Rise of the Puppets
by Show Expert 1
Summary: A dark guild that was once thought lost has returned. They seek five magical orbs in order to revive a dangerous power that could destroy all of Fiore, but Fairy Tail will stand in their way. (AN: Based on the video game Naruto Uzumaki Chronicles 2)
1. Prologue: Arrival of Tranquil Mind

Inside a darkened room were four glowing orbs of red, green, yellow, and pink. Inside that room stood three figures that stood by the orbs.

"The time has come…to take a stand."

"For our guild."

"And for ultimate power."

"The spirit orbs….bring all five spirit orbs together to fulfill our guild's sacred dream."

"Yes. Yes!"

"Heh"

…

Natsu

"Hew! Glad that job is all over." Lucy said as she and Natsu walked hand-in-hand through the woods with Happy and it being dark out, but they were close to Magnolia. Ever since the defeat of Alvarez, Natsu and Lucy got real close and actually became a real couple.

"Yeah. You'll be able to make rent this time." Happy said.

"Let's hurry back to the guild. I want to get in a meal before Mira decides to close up." Natsu said, but he came to a stop when he heard something from behind them and picked up on someone's scent.

"Natsu, what's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"There's someone back there. Wait, I know that scent." Natsu said as he went to check it out.

"Natsu, wait." Lucy said as she and Happy went after him.

"Man. How much farther is it to Magnolia?" A person said as he was running through the woods in a hurry. He came to a stop when he saw Natsu, Lucy, and Happy came out in front of him and all three of them were surprised to see him.

"Rogue?!" Lucy said as they stood with Rogue from Sabertooth.

"What are you doing here?" Natsu said.

"Your guild and Magnolia are in danger. You've got to get word." Rogue said.

"In danger?! What do you mean in danger?" Happy said.

"What's going on?" Natsu said. Rogue was about to explain, but he heard something coming up from behind them. All of them looked further back and saw three strange looking men that didn't even look human with black pants and blades on their hands. They also had symbols on the chest that looked like the top of a brain in a circle. "Hey, who are you guys?!"

"Darn it. They followed me after all." Rogue said. One tried swinging his blade arm, but they avoided it. Natsu stepped up and gave a strong right hook that knocked it down.

"Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu tossed the fireball and knocked the other two down.

"Rogue, what's going on?" Lucy asked.

"We'll talk later. First, we've got to get your guild." Rogue said. None of them understood, but they knew this seemed like trouble and they needed to hurry.

"Alright. Magnolia isn't that far." Lucy said.

"Let's go." Natsu said as all four of them got moving back to the guild. "By the way, where's Frosch?"

"There wasn't much time. I had to go on ahead without him, but he's safe with Sting." Rogue said. "Stay focus on getting to Magnolia. I'll explain everything once we get to your guild." All of them hurried and arrived at Magnolia in no time. They just made it through the entrance, but they were cut off by two more of the strange looking men appearing out of nowhere. "We didn't make it in time."

"Watch out! There's more coming from behind us." Happy said as more of them showed up through the gate and had them surrounded.

"Hey you jerks, get out of the way!" Natsu said.

"Who are you creeps?" Lucy asked.

"It's no use trying to talk to them." Rogue said. "They're not even alive. They're nothing, but puppets being controlled by magic."

"Puppets controlled by magic?!" Lucy said as she thought that was unreal.

"Be careful. These things are relentless." Rogue said. "Still, we have no choice, but to fight through."

"No problem. I'm all fired up." Natsu said and went on the attack. He went and knocked one down and he spun around and gave another one a powerful kick. "They're not so tough." He thought this would be easy, but they got back up easily. "Okay. Maybe they're tougher than they look."

"Let's do this!" Lucy said as she got her whip around and she throwing it into another one. "Open! Gate of the Scorpian: Scorpio!"

"Wicked!" Scorpio shouted as he appeared. He shot out a blast of sand. It knocked a few down, but they just got back up as well.

"No way! They're getting up like our attacks are nothing." Lucy said.

"You've got to completely destroy them or else they'll just keep rising." Rogue said as he phased through a blade and slammed his hand through the spine. "They'll also vast in numbers. Don't let your guard down."

"Aye! He's right. They're everywhere!" Happy said as he scouted through the air as a few more showed up.

"So they need to be completely destroy, do they?" Natsu said. "That's what we Fairy Tail wizards excel at." He jumped up into the air. "Fire Dragon Roar!" He unleashed his breath attack and had some of them fry.

"Star Dress: Scorpio Form!" Lucy said as she changed appearances thanks to her Star Dress. "Are you ready, Scorpio?"

"Yeah, Lucy. Let's do this! Sand Buster!" Scorpio shot out a blast of a sandstorm. Lucy used her new powers to ride in the sand and used a great deal of speed to smash the puppets to pieces.

"Shadow Dragon Roar!" Rogue used his own roar attack and slammed some more of them together. However, he looked like he was ready to collapse.

"Rogue, are you okay?" Natsu asked.

"Just a little tired. I'll be fine." Rogue said.

"Guys, look!" Lucy said as a few more of them showed up.

"Darn it. No matter how many I knock down, they just keep coming." Natsu said.

"My guild was attack by these things too." Rogue said.

"Seriously?!" Natsu said as they were all surprised by this news.

"Sabertooth was attacked?!" Lucy said.

"Yeah. They attacked without warning and a few villages were attacked as well." Rogue said. "They took some places down like it was child's play."

"No way!" Natsu said.

"It wasn't just us." Rogue said. "A few other guilds were attacked as well at the hands of Tranquil Mind."

"Tranquil Mind?" Lucy questioned. They looked to the puppets and saw the mouths opened up.

"Yes…and now it's Fairy Tail's turn." All of them were emitting the same voice of a man.

"Waah! I thought you said these things couldn't talk." Natsu said.

"Calm down. They're just transmitting someone's voice." Rogue said.

"We have only one goal. We have come here to take the spirit orb."

"Spirit orb? What's that?" Natsu said.

"Playing dumb, are we?" They didn't have a clue as to what they're talking about. That was just about when Erza jumped down and showed in front of them.

"Erza!" Lucy said as she was glad to see her.

"I'm curious too. What is this spirit orb?" Erza asked. "What could be so important that you threaten Fairy Tail to obtain?"

"Do you take me for a fool?" One of the puppets went to attack, but Erza pulled out a sword and sliced it into pieces in no time. "We are taking that orb even if we have to burn this city to the ground."

"Try if you might, but Fairy Tail will fight until we can't fight anymore to protect it." Erza said. "So tell us what you are after?" They had a standoff and were waiting to see what the enemy would do next.

"I thought the powerful Fairy Tail would be guarding a spirit orb, but if even the great Titania knows nothing about it, I'm just wasting my breath. You be wise to stay out of our way." That was his last words before those puppets just vanished.

"Hey, where are you going?! Come back and fight!" Natsu called out.

"Leave it, Natsu. It's too dangerous." Erza said as she turned to face Rogue. "So you came here to speak with our guild?"

"Yeah. I need to speak with Makarov about this." Rogue said.

"Very well. I'll take you there. You can inform the rest of the guild about this." Erza said.

…

The Guildhall

Erza took Rogue to the guild to speak with Makarov. Everyone gathered around as Rogue told Makarov about what has happened.

"I see. So Sabertooth was attacked by the same enemy." Makarov said.

"Yeah and it was a surprise attack." Rogue said. "We weren't expecting them at all and they tried to overwhelm us with numbers of those puppets we just fought."

"So who is this Tranquil Mind?" Gray asked.

"They were once a legal guild, but just like I heard you guys did, they caused trouble for the Magic Council." Rogue said. "However, they didn't handle it well and started a rebellion many years ago, but it didn't go well. Many members were lost and the guild slowly dissolved. I say that was about when they turned into a dark guild."

"I've heard about that." Mest said. "The Tranquil Mind guild that had a creative use of magic such as making those puppets, but I'm afraid that's just about all I know. They disbanded and seemed to have vanished such a long time ago.

"So we're seeing the survivors act out." Erza said.

"Yeah to collect these five jewels called spirit orbs." Rogue said.

"What are these spirit orbs?" Natsu asked.

"Apparently, there are five spirit orbs scattered across Fiore." Rogue said. "They each hold a ton of magic power and I know they already have four of them. They're searching for the last one. They thought powerful guilds such as Sabertooth or Fairy Tail was guarding it."

"What are they going to do once they get all five?" Wendy asked.

"If what I heard is true, they're going to revive the Master Puppet." Rogue said. "A magic puppet with the power to destroy all of Fiore."

"Whoa! That sounds like it would be an awesome fight!" Natsu said.

"You dummy. It sounds like we don't want that thing to be revived." Gray said.

"If that's true, this is a threat to the entire country." Makarov acknowledge.

"What do we do, Master?" Erza asked.

"We need to gather more information on this guild." Makarov said. "In the meantime, we need to be on the lookout for this last orb."

"Oh yeah. I'm getting all fired up now!" Natsu said.

Next time: Save a Burning Village


	2. Save a Burning Village

After learning of the Tranquil Mind guild, Fairy Tail was warned of doom known as the Master Puppet. They're only chance to prevent that puppet from being revived was to find this last magic jewel known called a spirit orb. At the moment, Makarov asked for Natsu and his team to come into his office.

"Gramps, did you come up with a plan for that Tranquil Mind guild?" Natsu asked.

"Not yet, but Levy and a few others are doing what they can to gather information on the guild." Makarov said. "For now, we must focus on finding that last spirit orb before they do."

"In order to make sure they can't revive the Master Puppet, correct?" Wendy asked.

"Yes. Also, I have a little job for you." Makarov said. "A fire has erupted in a nearby village to the east from Magnolia. People have also claimed to see a few walking puppets there."

"It sounds like the Tranquil Mind guild is behind this so they can try to find the last spirit orb." Erza said.

"Those jerks. They're really asking for it." Natsu said.

"Worry about saving the villagers first." Lucy said.

"I really don't get what you see in him." Gray said.

"Lucy's right. The safety of the villagers comes first." Makarov said. "After you save them, then you can go beat up the Tranquil Mind guild all you want."

"Understood. Let's go you guys." Erza said and all of them agreed.

…

The Village

The team made it all the way to the village and everything was on fire. Erza and the others scouted through the entire town for anyone that needed help.

"Wow! They really brought it to this place." Erza said. Gray and Lucy ran up to her.

"Erza, we were able to evacuate everyone." Gray said. Natsu and Lucy came down with Happy and Carla.

"There isn't anyone left." Happy said.

"It looks like all the townsfolk were able to make it out." Carla said.

"Excellent work, everyone. There's only one thing left to do." Erza said as she stepped forward and stared at the other side of the archway. "Come on out. Don't even bother trying to run or hide." They all looked ahead and saw a group of masked people coming out from hiding.

"Who are they?" Lucy asked.

"Bandits." Erza said.

"I thought the Tranquil Mind guild was behind this." Happy said.

"Something seems strange." Carla said.

"Wendy and Natsu, you take Happy and Carla and scout out for more of them." Erza said. "Gray and Lucy, you're with me."

"Let's do this." Natsu said as Happy and Carla grabbed him and Wendy and started flying.

"Here we go! Requip!" Erza said and changed into her Heaven's Wheel armor. She flew right through the archway and attacked the bandits with Gray and Lucy following her. "Circle Sword!" Erza shot a bunch of swords in the shape of a circle and knocked them down.

"Your mine, pretty lady." A fellow bandit said as a few went for Lucy.

"Don't bet on it." Lucy said as she used her Star Dress and turned into her Taurus Form and the outfit caused all of them to have hearts in their eyes. "Earth Wave!" She struck the ground with her whip and caused the whole ground to rupture with the bandits being taken out.

"They're dropping like dominos." Gray said as he blast one with ice. He saw a couple more went in for another attack. "Ice-Make: Saucer!" Gray made an ice saucer and shot it towards them and knocked them down. Natsu and Wendy scouted from the air and spotted another group in a different part of the village.

"There they are!" Wendy said.

"Time for Plan T: Take them by storm." Natsu said.

"Aye sir!" Happy said as they dived right down.

"Why do they always have to go for straight up fighting?" Carla said.

"We might as well join them." Wendy said as the two of them followed them. They flew right down at the bandits and Natsu sock a couple of them.

"These guys are nothing, but pushovers." Natsu said.

"Aye!" Happy said.

"What's with these guys?"

"Look at the marks they have. They're from Fairy Tail."

"We can't take these guys in a real fight!"

"Run!" All of the ones that were still standing tried to make a run for it, but Wendy and Carla flew in.

"Sky Dragon Wing Attack!" Wendy shot out a gust of wind that slammed into some of the bandits.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu slammed a fiery fist against another one and knocked him out. That took care of the last one in the area. "This isn't much fun. These guys are too easy."

"Still, Erza isn't going to like it if we just let these guys escape." Happy said and Natsu knew he had a point.

"You're right. Let's go find if there are any more." Natsu said and all of them started flying again. Erza's group just about finished with their bandits, but a few of them jumped over a wall and made a run for it.

"Get back here!" Gray ordered.

"You're not getting away." Lucy said as they both went after them. The bandits kept running, but a bunch of swords cut off their escape route and they saw Erza land down behind them.

"There's nowhere left to run." Erza said.

"If we can't ring, we'll just fight." One of the bandits said.

"Fire/Sky Dragon Talon!" Two bandits were kicked down by Natsu and Wendy with kicks of wind and fire. There was only one bandit left and all of them had him cornered.

"What is this? Who are all of you?" The bandit asked as he was acting scared.

"We're from Fairy Tail." Natsu said.

"Why have you attacked this village?" Lucy asked.

"Why do you care?" The bandit said.

"We're actually here to figure that out." Gray said.

"You wouldn't be connected to a guild called Tranquil Mind, would you?" Erza asked and it seemed like she was on to something by the way the bandit flinched.

"How did you know?" The bandit asked.

"So you guys ARE connected. Fess up already!" Natsu demanded. The bandit thought he was trapped, but he saw an opening and made a run for it. "Hold it!"

"You just don't know when to quit." Lucy said as they both went after him. The bandit rounded a corner with Natsu and Lucy close behind him and it looked like a dead end.

"There's nowhere left to run." Natsu said. They thought they had him, but they saw a blast of water come out from nowhere and hit the both of them with them being knocked off their feet. "That came out of nowhere. Lucy!" He went right over to her and helped her up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but what was that?" Lucy said. They both looked and saw a man in a cloak. That was just about when the others showed up.

"This is no time to be just standing around." Gray said.

"Gray, look." Happy said. All of them looked ahead and saw the same man.

"What is this? Who is that?" Wendy asked.

"I'm willing to be that he's with the Tranquil Mind guild." Carla said.

"Identify yourself. Why are you here?" Erza demanded.

"There was suppose to be a spirit orb in this village, but all my efforts were for nothing." The mystery man said. "You were warned to stay out of the way. Heed that warning." That was all he said before he had a blaze of fire appear around him and he vanished.

"He's gone!" Happy said.

"The bandit's gone too." Gray said.

"Erza, there's something that's bothering me." Wendy said. "The Tranquil Mind guild used puppets to attack before. So why did they use bandits for this one?"

"Good point." Erza said as she was thinking the same thing. "We better report this to Master Makarov. First, there's an all you can eat buffet with Natsu's name on it." She said as she was referring to the fire.

"Sweet!" Natsu said as he got to feeding.

…

The Guildhall

As soon as the flames were put out and all the citizens were safe, the team headed straight back to the guildhall. When they did, they headed straight for Makarov's office and were talking to him about what they've witnessed.

"A group of bandits? That is rather strange." Makarov said.

"Here's what I think of the situation." Erza said. "They are low on guild members and have already fought other enemies before now and have lost some of those puppets they've used."

"So to make up for their losses, they've teamed up with these bandits while they get some firepower back." Makarov said. "Well done. We can use this information. If we're dealing with actual humans, we can form a plan. For now, be on alert if I need you again."

"Lame." Natsu complained. He would much rather go in and fight all of them right now.

"Is there something you like to say?" Erza said as she was giving him one of her famous glares and broke that fighting spirit of his instantly.

"No! Sorry! Natsu said.

"Let's go, Natsu." Lucy said as she grabbed a hold of him and started walking away. They might have succeeded in saving an entire village, but if the Tranquil Mind guild was willing to go that far, what else are they willing to try?

Next Time: Capture the Bandits


	3. Catch the Bandits

The search for the last spirit orb and the Tranquil Mind guild keeps going. In a reveal of new information, the guild has teamed up with a group of bandits until they regain some firepower. At the moment, Natsu and Happy were on their way to the guild when they saw Gray running out.

"Natsu, you came at good time. I was just about to come and get you." Gray said.

"What's up?" Happy said.

"Something going on?" Natsu said.

"Gramps just asked for us and Lucy." Gray said. "It involves those bandits we faced the other day."

"Alright! What are we waiting for?" Natsu said. Not needing know anymore, Natsu went straight to Makarov's office with Gray and Happy. When they got in there, Lucy was already there with Makarov.

"About time you guys showed up." Lucy said.

"Sorry." Natsu said as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "So do you really have something about those bandits?"

"Yes thanks to all of you with Erza and Wendy learning about them. Listen up because we have a plan." Makarov said. "We're going to spread a rumor that we found the spirit orb and capture the bandits when they try to take it."

"Wait a minute! You mean you actually found that thing?!" Natsu said.

"You're lucky you're adorable." Lucy said. "It's just a story we made up to lure in the enemy."

"Oh! So what do we do once we've got them?" Natsu asked.

"If we capture them, we can get some information out of them about Tranquil Mind." Makarov said. "We can't really get information out of puppets, but bandits are a different story."

"So we need to take advantage of this while the guild is teamed up with these bandits." Gray said.

"Exactly." Makarov said. "The fake orb will be moving by carriage. You all just need to act like you're guarding it."

"A carriage?!" Natsu said as he sounded scared because of his motion sickness.

"Relax, idiot. You don't need to ride in it." Gray reassured him and that had Natsu feeling better.

"We have it all set to go. Take the carriage and capture the bandits when they attack." Makarov said. "We can't afford any error on this mission."

"Got it." Gray said.

"Just leave everything to us." Natsu said with confidence that they can handle the bandits.

…...

The Forest

Natsu and the others took the carriage with the fake luggage and moved through the woods with them waiting for the bandits. Natsu and Gray walked to the sides while Lucy and Happy sat on it and steered the horse.

"Come and get it you bandits. I'll take you all down." Natsu said.

"You know you can't just a brawl with them, right?" Lucy said.

"Why not?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, Lucy. Isn't the point for us to have them to come to us and beat them?" Happy said. "You can be real slow." That hit a nerve considering what these two are like.

"If those bandits find out the cargo is fake, they'll take off." Gray said. "We need to capture at least one of them before that happens."

"So we've got to beat them quickly. Is that what you're saying?" Natsu said.

"You know it wouldn't kill you to actually think with your head rather than your fists." Gray insulted. Natsu got angry and was about to respond, but he heard something move through the bushes and picked up some scents.

"Heads up. We've got company." Natsu said. Gray and Lucy stood guard as they were beginning to hear all of it as well. That was when the bandits came out of hiding and there were so many. They had all of them surrounded.

"They're everywhere!" Lucy said.

"How can there be so many of them?" Gray said.

"What's the matter? Are you scared?" Natsu insulted.

"You wish!" Gray said.

"Fight the bandits, not each other." Lucy said as she hopped on the back of the carriage to make it look like she was defending it as well. They noticed the bandits clear the way in the front for someone to step through. He had black with a wolf tail and he wore a red vest with a beige outfit that was similar to a ninja's with a sword.

"These are the same guys that beat up our men? They don't look so tough."

"Who might you be?" Gray asked.

"I happen to be the chief of these bandits. Make it easy on yourselves and hand over that orb thing. Our client would love to have it. While you're at it, hand over all your valuables."

"Guess that confirms they're working with Tranquil Mind." Lucy said.

"It doesn't matter who they're working with. We get to fight!" Natsu shouted in excitement as he was the first to charge and knocked one out.

"You just dug your own grave. Attack!" The chief ordered as all of them went to attack. Gray rolled under one and kicked him back.

"You guys asked for it!" Gray said as he tossed off his shirt.

"What?"

"Why is he taking off his shirt?"

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray shot out his lances of ice and knocked a few of them out.

"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" Lucy opened up the gate and Taurus showed up and used his axe to knock some of them down.

"Moo! What did you think, Miss Lucy? Do I deserve some smooches?" Taurus said.

"You do know I'm seeing someone, right?" Lucy said. She saw a dagger hit the crate and one bandit in a tree used a rope to try and pull it to him. "No you don't!" Lucy used her whip and wrapped it around the bandit. She pulled and had the bandit fall out of the tree. Even Happy got into the fighting by using fish like clubs.

"Fish have more than one use." Happy said. The chief was finding this a complete embarrassment.

"If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself." The chief said as he pulled out his sword. He leaped forward and moved incredibly fast that he was near Natsu in no time.

"Natsu, watch out!" Happy called out. Natsu noticed the chief and he swung his sword, but Natsu was able to duck out of the way.

"Whoa! This guy is incredibly fast." Natsu said.

"I'm just getting started." The chief said as he kept swinging the sword around, but Natsu jumped back to get out of the way. "What happened to all your talk? Are you afraid now?"

"Say what?" Natsu said and got a little irritated.

"Whoa! That guys is pretty fast. Natsu, do you need any help?" Lucy said.

"No thanks, babe. This just got interesting." Natsu said, but Lucy wasn't entirely sure.

"Let Natsu handle him." Gray said as he froze a few of the bandits. "We've still got his annoying underlings to deal with." While Gray and Lucy were fighting the bandits, Natsu had to deal with the chief.

"So you're telling me all you got is that one sword?" Natsu said. "You don't have any magic? This is going to be so boring if you don't."

"Someone seems full of himself." The chief said. "No, I don't have magic, but we're the best group of bandits around. An average group of wizards like you can't defeat us. You should have run while you could!" The chief went in for another attack and swung his sword against Natsu.

"Yeah right." Natsu said as he ignited himself on fire and the bandit chief's sword slid past Natsu as part of it melted off.

"No way!" The chief said as he backed away from the heat and from fear. He stared down at his sword and couldn't believe it just melted like butter from just touching him "H-How did you do that?"

"We're no average group of wizards. We're from the Fairy Tail guild." Natsu said as he walked closer with a flaming fist. "In fact, we're among some of the best."

"No. You're a monster!" The chief claimed.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu gave him a strong right hook and had him slammed and slid against the ground. "Man. I really thought he would have put up more of a fight. That Tranquil Mind guild needs to get better fighters."

"At least we managed to catch them." Gray said as he showed he and Lucy were able to beat all the other bandits.

"So this guy is the chief of the bandits, huh?" Lucy said.

"Looks like it. So let's get him back to the guild." Happy said. All was set, but Natsu heard something else was coming.

"It sounds like reinforcements are here." Natsu said.

"Where?" Gray asked as they looked around until Natsu got it.

"Above us!" Natsu said. They all looked up to see they were actually more puppets. They came down with their blades out.

"Ice Make: Shield!" Gray formed his shield of ice and was able block the attacks. The puppets jumped off and activated the speakers in their mouths.

"Let's not quibble. Just hand over the orb."

"Be my guest….as long as you don't mind a fake." Gray said.

"Fake?!"

"In order to lure you guys out, we put on a little show." Gray said.

"Hope you enjoyed it." Lucy said. At first, it sounded like he groaned, but then he laughed.

"You don't know what you've done. We warned you not to interfere. For this…when we find we revive the Master Puppet….we'll burn your guild to the ground." That was their final message before the puppets disappeared.

"Hey, come back!" Natsu said and took off to find them.

"No, Natsu. Just leave it." Gray said.

"Why should I?" Natsu said.

"Our job is to bring these bandits back. It would do us no good if we go after puppets." Gray said.

"Exactly." Lucy said.

"You're taking his side?" Natsu said.

"I'm pretty sure we'll run into whoever is controlling those puppets sooner or later." Gray said. "In the meantime, we need to escort these guys back to the guild. Got it?"

"Yeah. Got it?" Happy said.

"Fine." Natsu said, but he wasn't satisfied. What none of them know was that someone was watching them and he didn't seem satisfied as well before he walked away.

….

The Guildhall

After their encounter with the bandits, the team escorted them back to Magnolia and informed Makarov about what has happened.

"After that, we brought the bandits with their chief here." Gray said.

"Good work. You all did well." Makarov said. "We should question the man immediately. So you say that there were a couple puppets as well."

"Yeah. It seems they're starting to get their strength back." Gray said.

"Now that you mention it…the voice coming from the puppets was different from that man that we came across in that burning village." Lucy said.

"So that means that there are other humans in that guild." Makarov said.

"Doesn't matter. I'll take them all down." Natsu declared.

"Do you always have to try and pick a fight?" Lucy said.

Next Time: Treasure of Tranquil Mind

An: People, please at least one of you leave at least one review. I want to know if I'm doing good.


	4. Treasure of Tranquil Mind

Without any new information about Tranquil Mind or their actions, everything has been going normal. Natsu and Happy were on their way to the guild.

"So Happy, what are you in the mood for to eat?" Natsu asked.

"Fish, of course." Happy said. Both of them were on their way when they saw Gajeel and Levy with Panther Lily coming out. "Gajeel, Levy, Lily! Are you all heading out for a job?"

"Yeah. Apparently Jet and Droy ran into some trouble." Levy said.

"So we need to bust them out." Gajeel said.

"It's always wise to help a comrade in need." Panther Lily said.

"Boy, those guys really are a handful." Natsu said as he was about to continue to the guild.

"Hold on, Natsu. Master is looking for you. I think he has something planned for you." Levy said.

"What?! What does he know?" Natsu said as he was acting nervous.

"I…don't know what you're talking." Levy said.

"Come on. Let's just get it over with." Happy said and Natsu didn't seem thrilled. The three of them just left things at that and went on ahead. Natsu and Happy went straight for Makarov's office.

"Look, Gramps…." Natsu was about to address his problem, but he saw Erza standing there as well.

"About time, Natsu." Erza said.

"Erza? What's going on?" Natsu said.

"I have another job for you Natsu and Erza is here to help. This involves Tranquil Mind." Makarov said.

"Now we're talking!" Natsu said as they got his full attention. "So what's going on?

"We were able to get some information out of the bandit chief you captured the other day." Makarov said. "Apparently, he and his men were on their way to a forest area south from here. They thought they might have found a spirit orb there."

"What?! So the spirit orb has already been taken?!" Natsu said.

"No. Just as they were about to begin their search, they thought we already found the orb and fell into our trap." Makarov said.

"So if they were searching in the right spot…" Erza stated.

"…the spirit orb must still be there." Happy finished.

"If that's the case, we better find it fast." Makarov said.

"Absolutely. We can't let them get their hands on the orb." Makarov said. "I've already asked for a little help from Sabertooth. Work with the two members from Sabertooth and find that orb."

"You got it. Let's go, Erza!" Natsu said.

"Right." Erza agreed.

…

The Forest

Erza and Natsu headed south to the forest to find the spirit orb. They headed for a meeting area to join with the two wizards from Sabertooth.

"This is the area where we're suppose to meet the Sabertooth wizards." Erza said. Natsu had a look around, but didn't see anyone anywhere.

"There's no one here." Natsu said.

"Did we get the meeting time wrong?" Happy asked.

"That can't be it." Erza said. They tried to wonder where their partners are suppose to be, but they heard someone walk up behind them. They both turned around and saw it was Sting.

"Sting! So you're one of the guys we're working with." Natsu said.

"Yeah." Sting said, but something seemed strange. He didn't sound like his energetic usual self.

"Thanks for coming to help us. These guys from Tranquil Mind are a little tricky." Natsu said.

"No problem. Let's get searching for the orb" Sting said. Natsu was a little annoyed because Sting sounded like he was just moping around.

"What's the matter with you?" Natsu asked. That was just about when Erza thought something was wrong.

"Hold on. Where's the other member of your guild?" Erza said. "And where's Lector? Aren't you two usually together?"

"He'll join us in a little bit." Sting said. "Let's just start searching for the orb."

"What about the other member of your guild?" Erza said. "Did you think I was talking about Lector? You should know what I was really talking about if you're the real thing."

"What are you talking about?" Happy asked. Sting jumped up and tried a roundhouse kick, but Natsu and Erza jumped back and avoided his attack.

"What are you doing, man?" Natsu asked.

"The real Sting is tough, but this one is obviously a fake." Erza said.

"A fake? That can't be right. He has Sting's scent." Natsu said.

"We'll talk later. Here he comes." Erza said. The fake Sting went right in for an attack and went after Natsu. Natsu tried to hit him, but he jumped over Natsu and kicked him in the back. Natsu turned around to face him, but was met with a kick to the jaw.

"Fake or not, this guy is tough. Are you sure he's not the real Sting?" Natsu said.

"Certain." Erza said as she pulled out dual swords. She charged right at the imposter, but he grabbed ahold of both her arms and stopped her attack. That didn't stop Erza as she banged her head against him and gave him a strong kick that pushed him down.

"Go, Erza!" Happy cheered, but the fake got up like it was nothing. "Oh man. Natsu was right. This guy is pretty tough."

"Natsu, don't get discouraged. Haven't you noticed? He isn't using any of his Dragon Slayer Magic." Erza said.

"Yeah! Since he's really a fake, I don't need to hold back." Natsu said as he had flames burning around his fists. "Fire Dragon Wing Attack." Natsu unleashed a whirlwind of fire, but the fake Sting was able to dodge each of the fire.

"Flight Armor!" Erza requipped her armor and struck the fake. She used the increase of her speed and hit him multiple times.

"I've got him!" Natsu said as he reached out and grabbed a hold of his chest. "Fire Dragon Grip Strike!" He unleashed an explosion of fire that knocked the enemy down. Erza requipped into her original armor and the fake was knocked down.

"I guess that's that." Happy said, but he was wrong as the fake stood back on his feet. "No way! He can keep getting up?"

"I know the real sting is tough, but this is getting nuts." Natsu said.

"He just doesn't know when to quit." Erza said.

"Let's see your true identity already." Natsu said as he was fed up with the façade. Just then, a blast of white light came from behind them and blasted through the fake. The blast revealed to be one of Tranquil Mind's puppets under the effects of Transformation Magic and was wearing Sting's vest. They looked behind them and saw the real Sting with Lector.

"This is my true identity." Sting said.

"How's it going?" Lector said as Sting walked over and got his vest.

"Sting! Wait, you're the real thing this time, right?" Natsu said.

"Of course it's me. Is all that fire ruining your eyesight?" Sting said.

"Yep. That's the real him alright." Happy said.

"Hi!" They looked to see Rogue and Frosch came as well.

"Sorry we're late." Rogue said. "We were on our way here when we were intercepted by Tranquil Mind's puppets."

"That's when the fake met up with us." Erza said. "If we have been searching with him, he might have slowed us down. If we also would have found the orb first, he could have snatched it from us. That must have been the angle they were playing."

"Still…I never would have thought he was a fake." Natsu said. "He sounded so normal and he had Sting's scent."

"Didn't Rogue tell you? They have a transmitter that allows them to project someone's voice." Sting said.

"Yeah and besides, there's only one Sting." Lector said.

"They must have known Natsu could tell he was a fake by scent so they took Sting's vest to have Natsu believe he was real." Erza said. "Either way, he didn't ACT normal at all."

"Yeah, Natsu. I can't believe you almost fell for it." Happy said.

"You almost fell for it too!" Natsu said with rage. While they were arguing, Rogue felt a gust of wind blow by and had a faint scent on it.

"What's wrong, Rogue?" Frosch asked.

"That gust of wind. It had a small scent of dirt on it like something was being dug up." Rogue said.

"The bandits or Tranquil Mind! It must be an excavation team searching for the orb." Erza said.

"We better hurry. They might have already found it." Lector said.

"Let's go!" Sting said as they all started running to get to the orb before it was too late. All of them were on their way when a squad of those bandits appeared.

"This is going to be a drag." Rogue complained.

"Don't make me laugh. I can't break through anything!" Natsu said.

"Let's put that to the test!" Sting said as all of them attacked. Sting jumped up and kicked a few of them down.

"Purgatory Armor!" Erza requipped her armor again. She swung her spiked mace and unleash a powerful force that knocked some of them down. Rogue used his shadow form and moved from one bandit to the next and knocked each one of them down.

"Out of our way!" Natsu shouted as he unleashed a powerful blast of fire that knocked them down.

"Hey!" Lector called out as he and the others used Aera. "I think we might have them with orb. They're just ahead."

"Hurry!" Rogue said as they tried to catch up. A little further ahead was another group of bandits, but the team was able to catch up to them.

"Hold it!" Erza said as she tossed a sword in front of them to stop the bandits.

"Whoa! Is that it?!" Happy said as they was one of the bandits holding a blue orb the size of a beach ball.

"They actually got it!" Natsu said. The bandits continue to make a run for it instead of fighting.

"We better track them down before they get too far." Sting said as they were about to keep going, but another set of bandits came in their way.

"Darn it. Get out of our way!" Natsu said.

"We don't have time for this." Erza said. "Natsu, you're with me. Sting and Rogue, you go after the orb."

"These bandits

"Got it!" Sting said. He and Rogue jumped over the bandits and continued on foot. They were about to go after the two, but Erza pulled out her fire sword and used the fire to stop them.

"You're not going anywhere." Erza said.

"Lector and Frosch, you go too. Even I can fight these guys." Happy said.

"Oh man. They must be pushovers if even Happy can fight them." Lector said.

"I think so too." Frosch said as they followed their friends.

"Ready or not, here we come." Natsu said and in almost no time, Erza and Natsu was able to beat the last of the bandits. "That's that. Let's go join the others."

"No. I don't think there's much left for us to do." Erza said. "I'm confident they won't let us down."

…

The Guild

With there being nothing else they can do, Erza and Natsu headed back to the guild and informed Makarov of everything that has happened.

"I see. So you couldn't stop them from getting away with the orb." Makarov said.

"But Sting and Rogue are tracking them down." Natsu said.

"I'm willing to bet the bandits will hide out until they can meet up with Tranquil Mind." Erza said. "If that's true, we can sneak into their base and steal it."

"I see." Makarov said. "Be ready for when Sabertooth contacts us. We can't afford to lose that orb to Tranquil Mind." One shot left and it all comes down to getting that orb.

Next Time: Invade the Fort

AN: Seriously, just one person leave just one review. Is that too much to ask for?


	5. Invade the Fort

Sabertooth was left to track the bandits that have the spirit orb. Natsu was just called into Makarov's office where the rest of his team was waiting for him.

"Natsu, perfect timing." Makarov said.

"We just heard from Sting and Rogue." Gray said. "They were able to track the bandits and are waiting for us at their hideout."

"Really?! They found them!" Natsu said.

"It's not exactly hard to track down bandits that are carrying a giant orb." Carla said.

"They must be waiting for Tranquil Mind. We need to get that orb before they can hand it over." Wendy said.

"That's where we come in." Lucy said.

"Sting and Rogue are waiting for us and we already know where they are." Erza said. "We've got to get there at once."

"Oh yeah. This is going to be great." Natsu said as he was getting fired up again to get his hands on that orb. "Once we have it, we can bring that Master Puppet and fight it."

"How dumb can you be?" Gray said as he was getting irritated.

"Natsu! First, we want to prevent the Master Puppet from being revived." Erza said. "Second, even if that wasn't the case, we need all five spirit orbs and Tranquil Mind has the other four."

"So does that mean we can't fight it?" Natsu said.

"We're hoping we don't ever get the chance if it's so dangerous." Lucy said.

"Enough! Get going before it's too late." Makarov said and all of them got moving.

…

A Fortress

Team Natsu has made it to an old fortress out in the middle of nowhere. Sting and Rogue with Lector and Frosch were there waiting for them and they were glad to see them when they arrived.

"Glad you guys could make it." Lector said.

"Thanks. So how are things on your end?" Erza asked.

"Not much to say. They haven't carried out the orb yet." Rogue said.

"Alright. If we're going in, we should do it now." Erza said. "Natsu, you and I will go in. Gray, Lucy, and Wendy will stand guard outside. Let us know if Tranquil Mind or anything shows up."

"Happy, you should go too." Natsu said.

"I'll stay as well." Sting said.

"Got it. Just don't mess anything up on your end, Natsu." Gray said.

"Be careful." Lucy said as she gave Natsu a peck and all of them headed out.

"How did Natsu score a babe like Lucy?" Sting said.

"Careful. Yukino might not like it if she hears you say that." Rogue warn.

"Wait! You're not going to tell her, are you?!" Sting asked in a panic. He didn't even want to think about it. When all the others got on the outside, Natsu with Erza and Sting headed in the fortress.

"So this is where the bandits are hiding out." Erza acknowledge.

"Yeah. It threw me for a loop as well." Sting said.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Natsu asked.

"This fortress was used during the Second Trade War." Sting said. "It fell into ruin after that. Looks like those bandits have it fixed up."

"Whatever. Let's just get going." Natsu said. Before they could step inside, Sting sensed something and he knew it was trouble.

"What's wrong?" Erza asked.

"We've got company." Sting said. They looked behind them and saw the bandits come out and came for the attack.

"We're getting back that spirit orb. Bring it!" Natsu said.

"This shouldn't take long." Sting said as he went to attack. He jumped up and kicked one right in the face. Erza requipped a spear to block one bandit from using a knife and smacked him with it. Natsu gave one a powerful right hook to the jaw and sent him flying all the way to the other end.

"Heads up." Erza said. They looked up and saw a couple bandits using bows and arrows and shot them at the group.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sting said as they avoided the arrows. "They need to get some better forces."

"I've got it." Natsu said as he jumped off the wall and got to the bandits. He kicked both of them and knocked them down and in front of the other. Natsu jumped down and had them surrounded.

"Nowhere to run." Sting said.

"Where's the spirit orb? Spill it." Natsu said. The bandits didn't answer as the gate opened up and they ran inside. "Hey! Get back here!"

"Leave it, Natsu." Erza said. "The spirit orb is being held in the back of this fortress. They locked themselves in and readied themselves."

"Those fools. We've got this in the bag. They don't know what they're up against." Sting said.

"Just you wait you bandits." Natsu said as the three of them ran inside. They've encountered some resistance, but they were able to push through.

"If these bandits are all that's standing between us and the orb, we'll be out of here in no time." Sting said.

"Don't get too cocky." Erza said.

"Come on. Sting's actually right. What do we have to worry about?" Natsu said. He just jinxed himself as he took a step and felt his foot sink. Natsu was confuse until he saw the wall open.

"Natsu!" Sting said as he pulled Natsu out of the way before a bunch of arrows shot out and nearly made Natsu a pin cushion.

"And that's why we have to be more careful." Erza said.

"Okay, I get it." Natsu said as he moved around the area he just stepped on, but he tripped another trap as his ankle pulled a wire. That was when a giant axe pendulum swung down and nearly hit Natsu, but he moved over to the side.

"Smooth." Sting said with sarcasm as he and Erza moved around. "I think this time I'll take the lead" He stepped forward, but tripped another wire. "Uh oh!" That was when the ceiling opened up and spears were being shot at them.

"Didn't I say to be careful, idiots?!" Erza said with some fury as the three of them were running from the spears. It was more difficult than they thought as Natsu and Sting kept triggering traps. Erza had to knock them on the heads. "What is the matter with the both of you? Why is it so hard to think with your heads instead of your fists?"

"We're sorry." Sting said.

"Just stop hitting us." Natsu begged. Erza was irritated with both of them, but she looked on ahead to the next room.

"I think we found it." Erza said. All three of them moved to the next room and there was the Spirit Orb in the back of the room on a platform surrounded by a chasm. The three of them jumped down on the platform.

"Alright! We found the spirit orb!" Natsu said as he went to get it.

"Wait, Natsu." Erza said and had him stopped.

"What's wrong? Let's get this thing home already?" Natsu said.

"Something just doesn't seem right. It's far too easy." Erza said. "Even with all those traps and bandits, they wouldn't just leave this thing unguarded."

"I think you're worrying too much." Natsu said as he reached for the orb.

"Natsu, above you!" Sting called out. Natsu looked up and saw three of those magic puppets come down. One tried to slice Natsu's head off, but he ducked down. All three tried to slice him into pieces, but he used his flames and jumped away from them.

"Another trap?!" Natsu said.

"Tranquil Mind must have left those puppets here as a safety precaution incase intruders make it this far." Erza said.

"And it looks like it's more than just those three." Sting said. They all looked to railings on the side and saw each side had more of those puppets.

"At least these guys are more of a challenge." Natsu said. "Let's take them all down and get that orb." He made a run straight towards the first three and those three went to intercept them. Natsu pounded one down and did a split kick against the other two.

"Remember that we have to smash them into pieces." Sting said. One jumped down and tried to kick him, but he moved out of the way. Another tried jumping down, but Sting jumped and used it as a boost and landed on the railing. One puppet tried to slice him, but he dodged it and tossed the puppet down the chasm.

"Natsu, take care of the puppets that jump down." Erza said and requipped into her Black Wing Armor and flew up to the other side. She used the increase of her strength to slice them all down.

"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu gave a powerful flaming kick to one of the puppets and it was sent falling into the chasm. Natsu grabbed one and threw it into another, but they just got back up. "They just don't know when to quit." He saw one spinning around to try and chop him up. Natsu ducked down to avoid it and gave it a powerful kick.

"Back up!" Sting said as he gave one a powerful kick and pushed it with some others back. "White Dragon Roar!" Sting unleashed the blast of his roar and it burrow right through all the puppets. Erza flew around and used her sword to slash right through all the puppets. Natsu jumped back to the edge with Erza and Sting joining him with only being three remaining.

"Looks like just these three left." Natsu said.

"Let's end this. Moon Flash!" Erza said.

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

"White Dragon Roar!" All three of them used their attacks and destroyed the remaining puppets. With the last of the puppets destroyed, the three of them walked right over to the orb.

"Tough work, but we got it." Erza said.

"As long as we have the spirit orb, the Master Puppet can't be revived." Sting said.

"Yeah, but those guys will do anything to get it back." Erza said.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Natsu said.

"Yeah? So let's hear it." Sting said.

"Since you guys are against the Master Puppet being revived, why don't we just destroy the orb?" Natsu said. "That way the Master Puppet can't ever be revived."

"Um…that's true, Natsu. However, I think we should take it back with us so we can analyze it." Erza said.

"I'm through with just waiting around!" Natsu said as he was about to strike it.

"No!" Sting and Erza shouted, but he wasn't listening.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu said. He slammed the orb with all his might, but not even a crack was formed. Only a bright blue and flashing light from the orb. The orb began to float into the air.

"What's going on?" Sting wondered.

"Just hurry up and grab it!" Erza said. They reached for it, but the orb went through the wall and just vanished.

"It's gone!" Natsu said. He couldn't believe what he just saw, but he felt a menacing aura coming from behind him.

"Natsu!" Erza said with a ton of fury. "Why do you think I was telling you to wait?"

"Great. All that work just went right out the window." Sting said.

"I'm….I'm sorry." Natsu said.

"Great. How are we going to report this?" Erza wondered as well as something else. 'And what was that we just saw? It's as if the spirit orb was alive.'

…

The Guildhall

After their mission end up becoming a failure, they had no choice, but to go back to the guild. The group wasn't pleased at all with Natsu, but Makarov was the worse of them all.

"You stupid fool!" Makarov said. "Because of you, the spirit orb is lost again."

"I'm sorry, but that spirit orb should be destroyed." Natsu said.

"And what kind of idiot attacks something we know nothing about at a time like that?" Makarov said.

"You're looking at him." Gray said

"What I wouldn't give to have movement in my legs again." Makarov said.

"Um…guys, Natsu really does have a point." Wendy said and that got everyone's attention. "Just having it isn't enough. Tranquil Mind wants the orb and it could fly off again. We should destroy it or at least weaken it."

"I suppose you do have a point." Erza said.

"Thank you, Wendy." Natsu said.

"You're right. For now, we just need to focus on finding that orb." Makarov said. "As for you Natsu, I have quite the punishment for you."

"Oh man." Natsu complained.

Next Time: The Three Masters


	6. The Three Masters

Another job has come up that involves the Tranquil Mind guild. When Makarov obtained it, he called for Natsu right away. He was in his office with Lucy just as Natsu and Happy came walking in.

"Natsu and Happy, you're here!" Makarov said.

"Hey. Lucy, what's going on?" Natsu asked.

"I'm here for the job too." Lucy said.

"This one involves the chief of the bandits you captured." Makarov said.

"Who?" Natsu asked.

"Don't you remember? He's that bandit you beat up with the fake orb and the carriage." Lucy said.

"Oh yeah! So what? Do you need me to beat him up some more or something?" Natsu asked.

"For the love…Lucy, explain this to him." Makarov said.

"It's Tranquil Mind. Tranquil Mind is planning to attack the bandit's hideout." Lucy said.

"What?!" Natsu said as that was a surprise to him.

"I thought they were all working together." Happy said.

"No. Tranquil Mind force them to obey." Lucy said. "Some bandits refused, but when the guild got a hold of them, they were never heard from again."

"Ouch." Natsu said.

"The guild had the bandits search for the orb, but they weren't expecting us to get the orb." Lucy said.

"Though it never did make it back here thanks to a certain someone." Makarov said.

"I said I was sorry." Natsu said as he still felt bad.

"Anyway, the guild wouldn't tolerate anything short of success." Makarov said.

"The chief is afraid of that and thinks the guild will blame them for the orb being lost." Lucy said. "He's begging us to save his underlings."

"I think I get it." Happy said.

"Hold on! Gramps, you're not actually thinking about helping this guy, are you?!" Natsu said.

"I'm just trying to get information on Tranquil Mind." Makarov said. "Besides, I can't just turn away if there's someone in danger. That's just now how our guild operates."

"I guess." Natsu said, but he still didn't like it.

"The bandit's hideout is south of Mount Corinth." Makrov said. "A mountain that's to the northeast from here. Be careful because I've heard that there is a storm going on out there."

"Awesome. This feels like old times with it just being the three of us." Happy said.

'Hang on. Happy's a real pal. He can give me and Lucy some alone time when this is all done.' Natsu thought as he was enjoying the thought.

"Oh! That reminds me. I asked Gajeel and Panther Lily to join. They're both already on their way." Makarov said. "Lily might be scared of thunder, but he said he's not going to let fear stop him. Such a brave and dedicated member."

"Dang it. Metal head and his cat are along for the ride." Natsu said as he was disappointed.

"Natsu, let's go." Lucy said as she dragged him out of there to save bandits instead of getting rid of them this time.

…

Bandits' Hideout

The group of three headed straight for the mountain and found the bandit's hideout. A storm raged over them as the three of them stood on one side of a river with the hideout on the other.

"Wow! This is their hideout! It almost looks like a temple." Happy said.

"A little over the top for a bandit's hideout." Natsu said.

"It does make it difficult for Tranquil Mind to break in." Lucy said. "Huh!" Natsu looked to the side and Lucy looked down the river to see Tranquil Mind's puppets. "Let's do this, Natsu!"

"Yeah!" Natsu said as they both took a side. Lucy used her whip to pull one in and gave it a Lucy Kick. She then tossed it into another one. Natsu gave one a powerful hit and knocked it down. "Fire Dragon Roar!" He breathed out fire and knocked two more down. However, as those ones got up, more of them showed up.

"There's no end to them. They just keep coming." Happy complained with a worried tone. Natsu and Lucy was about to keep fighting, but something saved them.

"AAAARRRGGGHH!" Panther Lily came down in his battle mode and slashed some to pieces and changed back into his normal form with a panic look on his face.

"Iron Dragon Roar!" A whirlwind of iron blew the rest of them away with Gajeel landing down near them.

"Lily!" Happy said.

"Gajeel!" Lucy said.

"Sorry it took us so long to get here." Panther Lily said.

"These stupid puppets are everywhere." Gajeel said. Thunder roared and Lily got scared with him covering his ears.

"Can we please get in there?!" Lily said in a panic.

"He's right. We can't handle all these puppets." Lucy said. "Let's get inside before more of them showed up.

"First, we need to get across the river." Natsu said.

"We've got it." Happy said as he and Lily used their wings. Lily had a hold of Gajeel and Lucy and Happy had Natsu with them carrying them over to the hideout.

"Let's go!" Lucy said as they were about to come through the front door, but two more of the puppets came out. One tried swinging it's blades down, but Gajeel grabbed its arm and took a bite out of the blades.

"Whoever made these puppets knew what they were doing." Gajeel said. He ripped the puppet's arms off and smashed his head against it that caused it to crack up. The other tried to take a swing at Natsu and Lucy, but Natsu beat it around.

"Why don't you take a swim?" Natsu said as he grabbed it and tossed it into the river. All of them ran inside and there were a ton more.

"How many of these dumb things are there?" Gajeel said as he and Natsu tried to smash them to pieces.

"Let's find those bandits." Lucy said as they tried to look around, but there weren't any doors or anything.

"Iron Dragon Lance: Demon Logs!" Gajeel shot out pieces of metal and pierced through the puppets. "Hurry up. These things keep coming."

"I don't understand. How come there isn't anything in here?" Lily said as he went around the back, but he felt he stepped on something hollow and a hidden stair case opened up. "This way!" He called out and all of them headed for their stairs.

"Something to remember us by!" Gajeel said as he used his lance again and smashed the last of the puppets.

"A secret passage! Those bandits must have hit quite the heist to get something like this." Lucy said.

"Help me!" They looked down and saw a fellow bandit making a run for it in the next room, but he was trapped. All of them rushed in and smashed the puppets.

"Are you alright?" Lucy asked.

"Why are wizards from Fairy Tail helping us out?" The bandit asked.

"Your leader sought help from our master." Lily said.

"I see. Please, you have to help the rest of the gang." The bandit pleaded.

"Slow down. How many are we talking about?" Happy asked.

"There are still five more and they're in the next room. You've got to save them. I'm begging!" The bandit said.

"Just leave it to us." Natsu said as they all rushed to the next room. All of them hurried and saw three of the bandits need help as they were cornered by the puppets.

"Split up!" Lucy said as all of them hurried to help the bandits. One was trapped in a corner by the puppets.

"No you don't!" Natsu said as he was surrounded in fire and slammed against the puppets. "Go. Get out of here!" The bandit ran off. Meanwhile, another was trapped on a higher level.

"Open! Gate of the Lion!" Lucy called out with Loke appearing. "Destroy those freaky toys."

"You got it, beautiful." Loke said as he jumped up to the higher level. "Sorry, no touching or slicing." Loke used his magic and blasted the puppet. When it hit the ground, it smashed to pieces and the bandit ran off to safety. The third one ran to a storage area, but he was trapped.

"Leave me alone." The bandit pleaded, but the puppet kept going. However, an iron club smashed it into the wall.

"These things need to learn to play nice." Gajeel said. Three of the bandits were safe and when they were, the group came back together.

"Okay. That makes three of them already." Natsu said.

"There should be two left." Lucy said.

"Hold on." Gajeel said as he looked around the area. "I don't see any other place they could be hiding."

"But they have to be somewhere." Happy said. "You don't think Tranquil Mind already got to those two, do you?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions. Perhaps there is another secret passage somewhere around." Lily said.

"Yeah, but where?" Natsu said as he had a look around. He stopped when his ears picked up on something. He got down and placed his ear against the floor. "Found it!" He smashed his fist through the wall and lifted it up to reveal another passage.

"You didn't have to do smashing. There could have been a switch or something." Lucy said. Natsu wasn't really listening, but he was sniffing.

"Hold on. Someone else is down there." Natsu said. Knowing this couldn't be good, all of them hurried down the stairs.

"Hahah. How funny." At the bottom of the stairs, the last two bandits, but they were cornered by more puppets. There was also a woman down there. She had white hair that went to her shoulders with black boots and had a beige skirt and shirt that stopped in the middle of her stomach.

"That's enough!" Lucy said as she and the others arrived.

"Who are you guys?" The lady asked.

"Who are YOU, lady?" Natsu said. Gajeel acted fast and slashed the puppets to pieces.

"You guys don't look like total amateurs." The lady said. When she moved her arm, Happy saw she had the same blue emblem on her upper left arm as the puppets.

"Hey! She has the same mark as the puppets!" Happy said.

"So you're part of Tranquil Mind?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. I'm Mona of the Three Masters."

"Three Masters?" Gajeel wondered. Mona snapped her fingers and four twisters appeared around her.

"So she uses Wind Magic." Happy acknowledge.

"Let's see how you do against these guys?" Mona said as more of those annoying puppets showed up. "That is of course you have the time."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"Think about it? It might come to you. Of course, it might too late by then." Mona said. "Have fun. I hope you like running." She had a twister form around her and she vanished.

"Hey!" Natsu called out. He was about to try and go after her, but the whole place began to shake while they were trying to fight the puppets. "What was that?"

"That woman…she rigged our hideout with some kind of trap." A bandit said.

"What do you mean?" Happy asked.

"She said she was going to blow up our base." The bandit said.

"What?!" Lucy said and it didn't seem like there was much time.

…..

Mona

Mona appeared outside on a cliff with two more waiting for her. Both were men. One was an old man with a beard and streaks of black in his hair. He wore a midnight blue top that had large sleeves and lavender pants and sandals with the guild symbol on his back. The other had hair that was half blue and half red with it curling in the back. He was muscular and wore a sleeveless blue top and white shorts with bandages around his legs and metal braces around his arms.

"Is it set?" The old man asked.

"Yep." Mona said as she pulled out a switch. "Bye-bye." She pressed the button and the entire place blew up. "That takes care of the bandits and some annoying Fairy Tail wizards."

"Wait. Look." The old man said. They saw the flames were being pulled in and saw Natsu ate up the whole thing with everyone survived.

"Woo! I need to quit eating so fast." Natsu said as he felt a little queasy.

"Maybe, but at least we're alive." Lucy said. Mona couldn't believe she actually saw that. The old man was a little impressed.

"So that's the power of a dragon slayer." The old man said. Mona ran off. "Where are you going?"

"To get them, of course." Mona said.

"And what point is there in you chasing them now? Or are you suggesting your skills surpass those of my puppets." The old man said.

"Darn it." Mona complained as she saw she couldn't do anything.

"Let's attack Fairy Tail." The man said.

"What?" The old man questioned.

"They have the orb and are harboring some of bandits." The man said.

"And kill two birds with one stone." The old man clarified.

"Exactly." The man said.

"One problem." The old man said. "They had the orb, but it's lost again. You two should continue searching for the orb."

"And what are you going to do?" Mona asked.

"I'll take care of the bandits." The old man said.

"Right." The man said.

"When I catch up with those Fairy Tail wizards, they're be gonna sorry they messed with me." Mona said as they both disappeared in wind and fire.

"We must hurry. We must hurry and revive it." The old man said and teleported away.

….

The Guild

When all the bandits were safe, Natsu and the others headed straight back for the guild and told Makarov everything that has happened.

"They sent that many puppets?" Makarov said.

"They were everywhere." Gajeel said.

"No matter how many you knock down, they just keep coming." Natsu said.

"Yes. Well, we were able to get more information from the chief." Makarov said. "Apparently, Tranquil Mind use to have their guildhall in the same town as Sabertooth."

"Really? If that's true, there must still be information on them there." Lucy said.

"Exactly. I've already contacted them and they are doing some research." Makarov said. "For now, we'll wait until they contact us."

"Tranquil Mind might be vast in numbers with these puppets, but we can't lose." Lily said.

"No way. I'll take them all down." Gajeel said.

"Not if I get to them first." Natsu said.

"Seriously, where do you boys get your energy?" Lucy asked. The secrets of Tranquil Mind are being revealed, but what else are they hiding?

Next Time: Battle the Puppets and Lizard


	7. Battle the Puppets and Lizard

"Another job all wrapped up." Natsu said as he and Happy were heading back to the guild. "Too bad Lucy couldn't join us."

"Yeah. It really isn't the same." Happy said. They were just about to head in when they saw Levy come running out.

"Natsu, I'm glad I ran into you." Levy said. "I was just on my way to the Sabertooth guild. They found some information on Tranquil Mind."

"Whoa! Are you serious?!" Natsu said.

"So does that mean we know more about them?" Happy said.

"We're about to. Anyway, Gajeel isn't here and neither are Jet or Droy." Levy said. "Since you're itching to get at Tranquil Mind, I figure you might like to come and know more about them. We might even get an idea as to where they are."

"Yeah. Let's get going!" Natsu cheered. However, Natsu wasn't too thrilled when he got on the train. "Stop this thing. I want to get off!"

…..

Sabertooth

Natsu, Levy, and Happy arrived in the town where Sabertooth was at and they're waiting for them. They hanged out by a plaza when they saw Yukino and Minerva arriving.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Minerva said.

"Yukino and Minerva! It's been a while." Levy said as she was glad to see the both of them.

"It's great to see you both as well." Yukino said as she took out a folder. "Here are the reports we found." She handed it right over to Levy.

"Thank you. So what did you learn?" Levy asked.

"Details about their past and about that Master Puppet they're trying to revive." Minerva said. "As you may already know, Tranquil Mind was once a legal guild, but caused some trouble for the Magic Council thirty years ago."

"Thirty years?!" Happy said as they weren't aware it was that long ago.

"So this has been going on for a while." Happy said.

"Yes, but the deciding factor was that one member had a dark secret." Minerva said. "That man was the one that created the puppets we've been fighting. The guild didn't see it that way. They believe in using magi in any creative way. They didn't care if it was light or dark."

"I see. So when the Magic Council decided to disband the guild, it led to the failed rebellion." Levy said. "Some members were lost and the guild dissolved, but some members stayed and turned Tranquil Mind into a dark guild."

"So what was this dark secret?" Natsu asked.

"In order to build those puppets, the man who created them conducted human experiments." Minerva said and that was a terrifying thought to all of them.

"Human experiments?!" Natsu said.

"No way! That's horrible." Levy said.

"When the guild's rebellion against the Magic Council failed, the Magic Council made it forbidden to develop those magic fueled puppets." Yukino said. "It is also said that same person created the Master Puppet."

"What exactly is this Master Puppet?" Natsu asked.

"The Master Puppet was a weapon that person developed that held greater magic power than anything he created." Yukino said. "In fact, there was so much magic power that the creator couldn't control it. So for safety reasons, he created the spirit orbs and sealed it inside. That person was about to unleash it, but the Magic Council stopped that from happening."

"What happened to the spirit orbs after that?" Happy asked.

"The creator had no choice, but to scatter the spirit orbs across all of Fiore and the guild got to where it is now." Yukino said.

"If that would have been the end of it, we wouldn't be in this mess." Levy said.

"We believe that the person who created those puppets might be the same person who is behind all this." Minerva said.

"All this is useful pieces of information." Levy said. "At least we know what we're up against. Natsu, can you and Happy take this information back to the guild?" She asked as she hand the folder over.

"Yeah. What about you?" Natsu asked as he took it.

"I think I'll stick around a little longer and try to learn more." Levy said.

"Does that mean I have to ride that train again?" Natsu said as he was starting to get nervous about it.

"Just get going." Levy said as he pushed him to the station. However, something wasn't right. When they made it to the station, the train to Magnolia wasn't working.

"I'm sorry people, but for reasons we don't know, the train to Magnolia isn't working."

"Sweet! That means I don't need to ride it!" Natsu boasted.

"It's not working?" Yukino questioned.

"It was working fine when Natsu and I rode it here." Levy said. "Something doesn't seem right. Natsu, you better get back to Magnolia fast."

"Looks like we're flying." Happy said as he was about to spread his wings.

"There's no need. I can't get you back there in no time." Minerva said as she used her magic and placed both of them inside a multicolor orb.

"Whoa! This is going to be awesome!" Natsu said before Minerva had the two of them teleported away.

…

Magnolia

As the sun has completely gone down, Natsu and Happy reappeared on the rooftops in Magnolia.

"Whoa! That felt freaky." Natsu said.

"Natsu, look!" Happy said and it didn't sound good by the tone. Natsu looked around and saw Magnolia went through some sort of battle and it looks like the battle is still going on as some explosions are going off.

"What the heck is happening here?" Natsu said.

"Look over there! It's Gray and Juvia and I see more of Tranquil Mind's puppets." Happy said. Happy was right. Gray was fighting some of Tranquil Mind's puppets as they were lined up in front of them.

"Ice-Make: Hammer!" Gray formed a hammer of ice and smashed the puppets with it. On the building next to him, Juvia was fighting one of the puppets as well. It slashed against her, but it went right through her body of water. Juvia jumped off the building.

"Water Slicer!" Juvia shot out a slash of water and it sliced right through the puppet with her landing next to Gray. "Are you alright, darling?"

"More of them?" Gray said as he saw more of them show up. "Unless we take out what's controlling them, this will never end." Natsu and Happy hurried over to their side.

"Gray! Juvia! Let me help you guys out." Natsu said.

"Natsu? I thought you went to Sabertooth." Gray said.

"We just got back." Happy said.

"Here they come!" Juvia said. All of those puppets attacked, but they all acted.

"Fire Dragon Talon!"

"Ice-Make: Lance!"

"Water Jigsaw!" All three of them used their attacks and smashed through all the puppets. "We should be safe for the moment."

"Yes, but they're bound to show up again." Gray said.

"So what the heck is going on?" Natsu said.

"Tranquil Mind is attacking Magnolia." Juvia said.

"We've managed to evacuate the city, but these puppets are everywhere." Gray said.

"Man. We're gone for ten minutes and this happens." Happy said.

"What should we do, my love?" Juvia asked.

"If only we can find the one controlling them. That would help put an end to this." Gray said.

"Here they come!" Natsu said as a few appeared on the buildings and a few on the ground.

"Natsu, leave them to us. You go find whoever is controlling them." Gray said.

"But how if there's so many?" Natsu asked, but Gray already had the answer to that.

"Not to worry." Gray said. That's when a flash of lightning came down and destroyed some of the puppets with Laxus appearing.

"Hey. You guys need some help?" Laxus asked.

"Laxus, can help you." Gray said.

"I have to team up with him?" Natsu said and he didn't sound like he was okay with it.

"We don't have time to be arguing about this." Gray said. "Just go find the one leading this attack."

"Good luck." Laxus said as he took Natsu and Happy followed.

"Alright. Let's see what you got." Gray said as he went on the attack.

"I will never give in with my Gray with me." Juvia said as she went to join him.

"Laxus, do you even know where to look?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah. I had Bickslow use his Seith Magic." Laxus said. "He saw the puppets emit a magic trail and it led to the one controlling them. He's at the entrance of Magnolia."

…

The Entrance

At the entrance, the old man from Tranquil Mind was emitting his magic power. He controlled the puppets and could tell what was happening with each one of them.

"These Fairy Tail wizards are more trouble than I thought." While he was trying to control his puppets, Laxus, Natsu, and Happy showed up behind him.

"Looks like we found him." Natsu said with him getting the old man's attention.

"So you're the one controlling these puppets." Laxus said as he turned to speak to them.

"Obnoxious brats."

"That voice! Natsu, we've heard it before!" Happy said.

"Yeah. He's that same guy that spoke through those puppets." Natsu said.

"Yes. I am Ishida of the Three Masters. I'm also the master of Tranquil Mind."

"What are you after this time?" Laxus said.

"I've come to silence those bandits you've captured." Ishida said. "I'll have to deal with you. I think it's time I used my masterpiece." Ishida unleashed a light around him and a giant metal lizard appeared in his place.

"AAWWGGH! A l-l-lizard!" Natsu and Happy screamed.

"Calm down, morons. That's just another puppet." Laxus said.

"Yes." Ishida said as he was speaking through the puppet. "My greatest piece that will destroy you." The lizard opened its mouth and used a flamethrower. Natsu stepped in and swallowed up all the fire.

"Don't you know fire doesn't work?" Natsu said.

"So you are a dragon slayer of fire." Ishida said. "Let's see how you handle this." The lizard rolled like a wheel and tried to hit them, but they moved out of the way.

"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu slammed a flaming foot on the lizard, but it spun around and smacked Natsu with the tail.

"Lightning Dragon Jaw!" Laxus slammed his hands on the lizard, but it didn't seem bothered by it. The lizard jumped to the side and smacked against Laxus.

"No way! That thing is a match for Laxus AND Natsu together!" Happy said.

"We're just getting started." Natsu said as he went to attack it. He slammed his fist against the head, but the lizard pushed back and banged its head against Natsu and hit him hard.

"I don't believe this. We haven't even made a dent on that thing." Laxus said.

"You're wasting your time. Magic doesn't work on my puppet." Ishida said. The lizard rolled around and slammed against Laxus. "My puppet is made out metal that cancels out magic. Any magic attack used against it will be nullified." The lizard jumped up and spun around with compartments opening up. "Impulse Bombardment." Small bombs came down, but they unleashed blast waves that were greatly injuring them.

"Now I'm mad!" Natsu said. "Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu breathed out the fire, but all of it was just repelling off of the lizard.

"I told you that it's useless." Ishida said. The lizard rolled around and slammed against both of them with them getting hit. Then, the lizard spun on his side and slammed both with the tail.

"Any ideas? How are you guys going to beat that thing?" Happy said.

"Obviously it never dealt with a Fairy Tail wizard." Laxus said. "It's got to have a limit and we're going to drag it out."

"I doubt that!" Ishida said, but Laxus saw an opening in the mouth. He built up magic power in his hands.

"Lighting Dragon Heavenward Halberd!"Laxus tossed a halberd made of lightning and it went right inside the mouth with it starting to get electrocuted. "Natsu, now!"

"I've got it!" Natsu said as he jumped in the air. "Lightning Flame Dragon Fiery Hammer!" Natsu came down with a powerful fist of fire and lightning and slammed it against the lizard with a strong and powerful impact. Natsu jumped back and thought the lizard was done for, but it just got back up. "Darn it. It still won't break down."

"For someone so young, he certainly has a ton of magic power." Ishida said. "However, there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"Don't be so sure." Gray and Juvia came from the entrance and stepped in the fight.

"Gray! Juvia!" Natsu said as he was glad to see them.

"Is Magnolia alright?" Laxus asked.

"Yes. Nearly all the puppets have been destroyed." Juvia said.

"What?! That's impossible." Ishida said.

"It seems this puppet requires more magic power and concentration than the others." Gray said. "That left plenty of openings with the others."

"Fine." Ishida said as he saw he was outmatched. "I'll let those bandits off the hook for now, but the Master Puppet shall be revived." The lizard vanished after that without a trace.

"Hey, geezer! Don't you want to finish this fight?!" Natsu said as he tried to go after him.

"Leave it, Natsu." Laxus said. "He's probably miles away by now. I'm sure he'll just come to us again."

"Fine, but I'm getting sick of waiting around." Natsu said.

"By the way, Natsu. You came back from Sabertooth. Don't you have any information?" Juvia said.

"Oh yeah! We gotta talk to the master!" Happy said.

"I'll go with you and inform him what has happened so far." Gray said and the three of them headed for the guild.

…

The Guildhall

Natsu and the others headed for the guild. Natsu gave all the information and Gray told Makarov what has happened so far.

"We were able to beat the puppets, but the one controlling them escaped." Gray said.

"Magnolia is safe. That's all that matters." Makarov said. "Natsu, I thought I sent Levy to Sabertooth. Where is she?"

"She stayed behind to do a little more research." Natsu said.

"And now I'm back." They all looked to see Levy entered the guild. "Did I miss something?"

"Yeah." Natsu said.

"Levy, what have you learned?" Makarov said.

"The information is pretty old, but I think I found out something about the spirit orbs." Levy said. "If I'm right, we might be able to destroy it."

"That's excellent!" Makarov said. "All that's left is to find the spirit orb. Let's hope it's soon." All the pieces are in place. Whoever gets the orb shall decide the tide of the battle.

Next Time: Fairies and Tigers Team Up


	8. Fairies and Tigers Team Up

Day after day has passed and Natsu couldn't take it anymore. He was tired of waiting around for Tranquil Mind to come to them. He and Happy just stood outside the guild and wanted to go after Tranquil Mind.

"Man. I can't be wasting time like this anymore." Natsu said. "Tranquil Mind could be up to no good and we're just standing here doing nothing."

"I know, but we have no idea where they could be." Happy said. Natsu just wanted to go out and fight. At the same time, Wendy and Carla ran up to them.

"Natsu, we have great news!" Wendy said.

"It seems the spirit orb you lost before has been found." Carla said.

"Really?!" Natsu said as that was exactly what he needed to hear. "That's awesome! So where is it now?"

"Sabertooth has it. Master wants to speak to us about it." Wendy said. "Let's get going." Natsu and Happy agreed as they all ran inside. Once they got into the guild, Makarov was waiting for them.

"Gramps, have they really found the spirit orb?" Natsu said.

"Thankfully." Makarov said. "Sabertooth came across it and are making sure that it stays protected. At the moment, they're doing research on it."

"Research? What kind?" Happy asked.

"They're trying to figure out how to destroy it, of course." Carla said.

"Yes. Thanks to the information they gathered, as well as help from Levy with the information she's collected, we might be able to destroy it." Makarov said.

"If that's true….the Master Puppet can't be revived!" Natsu said.

"Yes, but Tranquil Mind will do anything to stop us once they learn we have the orb." Makarov said. "We cannot allow them to steal the orb. Wendy and Natsu, I want you both to head over and help Sabertooth guard the orb."

"Got it! Let's do this, Wendy!" Natsu said.

"Right. We'll protect the orb." Wendy said.

"We'll get there much faster if we carry them." Carla said.

"Yeah. It's time for us to fly!" Wendy said.

"I'm getting all fired up now!" Natsu said. Carla and Happy grabbed a hold of Natsu and Wendy and started flying as fast as they could to Sabertooth's guild.

…

Sabertooth's Town

Happy and Carla were able to fly all the way over to Sabertooth's town. They headed straight for the building on where the spirit orb was being held.

"Down there! That's the building the spirit orb is being held!" Carla said.

"I see it." Happy said.

"Awesome. Let's get down there." Natsu said. They headed around front, but they were shocked to see what was in front of them. Pieces of Tranquil Mind's puppets were everywhere.

"Tranquil Mind is here?" Wendy said.

"We better get in there. Happy, you and Carla guard the door in case anyone tries to get in or out." Natsu said.

"Aye, sir!" Happy said.

"Wendy, be careful." Carla said.

"I will." Wendy said. Carla and Happy let them go and they both ran inside the building. Inside, Rogue and Frosch were trying to hold off some of the puppets.

"Man, there's no end to these things. They're such a nuisance." Rogue complained.

"I think so too." Frosch said.

"Get out of the way already!" Rogue said and unleashed his roar attack and blasted the puppets.

"Rogue! Are you okay?" Natsu asked as he and Wendy spotted him.

"You guys are late. The enemy started their attack ages ago." Rogue said.

"We didn't think they be here so soon." Wendy said.

"Take us to the orb. We've got to make sure it's safe." Natsu said.

"Right. Frosch, you stay here where it's safe." Rogue said.

"Okay. Be careful, Rogue." Frosch said as the three dragon slayers went further inside to protect the orb. The orb was kept in the back of a large room. However, Mona was there and she was using her magic to drill at a barrier protecting the orb. Natsu and the others showed up and Natsu saw her.

"You! You're that girl from the bandit's hideout!" Natsu said and got her attention.

"You again? I should have finished you and your friends when I had the chance." Mona said.

"What are you doing?" Wendy said.

"What does it look like? The spirit orb is mine…but because you put up a barrier to protect it, I now have the added hassle of having to break it." Mona said.

"Don't kid yourself, lady. We're not letting you take the spirit orb." Natsu said as he ignited fire around his fist. He charged in to try and stop her, but he slammed right into a wall that surrounded the stand and Mona.

"She's quite cunning." Rogue said.

"She put up another barrier so we can't interfere." Wendy said.

"This is no time to be admiring her handiwork. She's about to steal the orb." Natsu said as he was starting to get anxious.

"Calm down. Look." Rogue said as he pointed to four puppets that acted like stands and projectors for the barrier. "Concentrate on destroying those things so we can move pass the barrier."

"Right. That's what we Fairy Tail wizards specialize with." Natsu said.

"Meddling pests. I'm so close." Mona said. "Buy me some time, guys." Her reinforcements, the puppets, came out of hiding and were set on stopping them.

"Natsu, destroy those things. Wendy and I will take care of the puppets." Rogue said as he used his shadows to push them back and Wendy used her wind. Natsu went straight for the puppets projecting the barrier.

"Good luck. Those things are durable. It's going to take a lot to break them." Mona said, but Natsu ignored her. Natsu unleashed some fire power and destroyed the first one in just one hit. "No way! In just one hit?!"

"That's one." Natsu said as he went right for the other and destroyed that one.

"Keep the others away, but stop that hothead." Mona ordered. Natsu went straight for the third one and destroyed that one easily.

"Natsu, watch out!" Wendy said as some of the puppets tried to get in Natsu's way.

"That won't stop me! Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu unleashed the fireball that destroyed the puppets and it destroyed the last projector. The force and heat caused Mona to break her concentration and the barrier protecting the spirit orb was repaired instantly. The three of them regrouped with Mona trembling in anger.

"Blast it." Mona said.

"Is this all we should expect from your piece of junk puppets?" Rogue said.

"Shut up. Shut up!" Mona said.

"Serves you right for dealing with forbidden magic." Rogue said. Mona jumped down to face them.

"I told you to shut up!" Mona said as she shot out a blast of wind, but they ducked down.

"I forgot she uses Wind Magic." Natsu said.

"I'll change your tune. Don't underestimate a puppet or member of Tranquil Mind." Mona said.

"Finally done hiding behind your puppets. Bring it." Natsu dared. Mona held up her arm and two twisters were formed.

"Twin Twister!" She shot out the two twisters, but Wendy stepped in and was able to de-spell the twisters.

"Wind Magic has no effect on me." Wendy said and that caught Mona's interest.

"Is that so?" Mona said as she used her magic and started to fly. "What's your name little girl?"

"I'm Wendy Marvel from Fairy Tail. I'm the Sky Dragon Slayer."

"Interesting. This might actually be a challenge." Mona said.

"Wendy's not the only one you're dealing with." Natsu said as he went to attack. He used his flames and gave himself a boost. Mona held out her hand and shot out a blast of wind and shoved Natsu down.

"I'll blow your flame out for good." Mona said. Rogue sank into the shadows earlier and shot out from the wall.

"Shadow Dragon Slash!" Rogu tried to strike her with his hand, but Mona flew back and he missed. Wendy jumped to her level.

"Sky Dragon Wing Attack!" Wendy shot out a whirlwind that hit Mona and blew her against the back wall and caused her to drop to the floor.

"Get her!" Natsu said as he rushed over to take her down. He tried to strike her, but Mona moved out of the way. Natsu kept trying to hit her, but Mona dodged each one of his attacks.

"Taking on three dragon slayers? This might be more of a challenge than I thought." Mona said. She felt herself get grabbed and saw Rogue had a hold on her. "You think you can hold me down?" Mona unleashed a blast of wind around herself and pushed the both of them back.

"Coward. Stop hiding behind your wind and take a hit." Natsu said.

"I'm a lady, dimwit. Guys aren't suppose to hit girls." Mona said.

"Good thing I'm here." Wendy said as she jumped over Mona.

"A little girl is no match for me." Mona said. She thrusted both arms and created a strong breeze that blew Wendy back and caused her to hit the ceiling.

"Wendy!" Natsu shouted for concern as she hit the ground..

"Worry about yourself." Mona said. "Wind Taker!" She had a ball of air formed around Natsu and he soon found himself trouble breathing.

"Hold on!" Rogue said as he tried to save him, but Mona cast the same spell on Rogue and he couldn't breathe either.

"It's hopeless to resist. Soon you'll both run out of air." Mona said. However, a green light shined on both of them and the spell vanished. "What?"

"Raise." Mona look and saw Wendy back up and had a green light coming from her hands.

"Thanks, Wendy." Natsu said.

"Good thing you're here." Rogue said.

"So I need to take her out first." Mona said as she jumped into the air and got over all three of them. "I'll attack from up here."

"You won't escape." Wendy said as she jumped even higher than Mona and got right over her. "Sky Dragon Crushing Fang!" Wendy struck down on Mona and had her falling. Rogue and Natsu got under where Mona was going to land.

"Shadow Dragon Waxwing Flash!"

"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Both of them used their wing attacks and they both bashed against Mona. Wendy dived down and got over Mona with her swinging her leg down.

"Sky Dragon Talon!" Wendy struck down with her foot and had Mona crashed into the floor.

"How?" Mona questioned as she tried to get back up. "How could a child beat me at my own game?"

"We were here too." Natsu said. Other members of Sabertooth came in and she was surrounded. "How about you just surrender?"

"Not yet." Mona said. She had wind form around her and she shot out and went straight through the door. "The next time we meet, I'll slice you up eight different ways!"

"Guard the orb. We'll go after her." Rogue ordered as he, Natsu, and Wendy went after Mona. Outside, the three Exceeds were waiting to hear what was going on.

"It's gotten pretty quiet." Happy said.

"Sure has." Frosch said.

"I hope they're alright." Carla said. None of them were expecting a blast wind to shoot out with Natsu and the others running out.

"Hey! What's going on?" Happy asked.

"No time to explain. We can't let her escape." Natsu said.

"Split up and track her down." Rogue said as the exceeds went with their fellow partners. They searched for her, but it was like she just vanished.

"Darn it. I was sure she came this way. Her scent is long gone now." Natsu said.

"Here comes Wendy and Carla." Happy said as the two of them ran in their direction. "Did you find her?"

"No. She isn't anywhere." Wendy said.

"Rats. Now we only have rogue and Frosch." Natsu said.

"I think not. It looks like they weren't any better." Carla said as they saw Rogue and Frosch coming their way and had no better luck.

"You too?" Natsu said.

"Sorry. She's gone." Rogue said.

"Sorry." Frosch said.

"We had her." Natsu groaned as he gripped his own hands. "She was right in the corner. She was right where we wanted her."

"There's nothing we could do now." Rogue said. "The orb is safe. Sooner or later, they'll come again." Three dragon slayers might not have been enough to stop the enemy from escaping, but the orb is still safe. Can they keep it safe until the orb is destroyed?

Next Time: The Orb or Destruction


	9. The Orb or Destruction

In an attempt to protect the spirit orb, Natsu and Wendy went to the Sabertooth guild. Mona tried to steal the spirit orb, but she failed. After they failed to stop Mona from escaping, the Rogue and the others reported to Sting.

"Sorry. We were able to protect the Spirit Orb, but the member of Tranquil Mind was able to escape." Rogue said.

"The spirit orb is still in our hands. That's really all that matters." Sting said. "As long as we have that and continue the research, we can figure out how to destroy it and that Master Puppet can't be revived." He turned his eyes on Natsu and the other. "Sorry for all the trouble we caused."

"Trouble? You didn't cause any at all." Natsu said.

"That's right. I think it's for the best that our guilds help each other." Wendy said.

"Well, be that as it may, it seems everything has settled down around here." Carla said. "We should probably be heading on back to the guild."

"Yeah. Master will probably want to hear what has happened." Happy said. "Let's hop on a train and head home."

"Not a chance! I'm walking!" Natsu said as he set his mind on that and started walking.

"Sorry, but I don't really want to be getting sick myself." Wendy said as she followed Natsu and so did the cats. "Give us a call if you need any help."

"Sure. Thanks for the help!" Sting said.

"Take care!" Rogue called out.

…

The Road

Natsu and Wendy decided to just walk all the way back to Magnolia. Better that than taking a train or a carriage the whole way to them. Happy and Carla weren't exactly thrilled about walking all the way.

"Natsu, are you sure we can't just take a carriage or something?" Happy asked.

"No way. Besides, it can't really be that far." Natsu said.

"Perhaps, but it's better than just walking all the way." Carla said.

"It's not so bad. At least we get to enjoy a little scenery." Wendy said. They didn't get to do much of that as Natsu caught whiff of something. He came to a stop and sniffed the air.

"Natsu, is something wrong?" Happy asked.

"Wendy, do you smell that?" Natsu asked. Wendy did a little sniffing herself and saw what he was talking about.

"Yeah. Now I do." Wendy said.

"What is it? Do you smell something strange?" Carla asked.

"Sorry." Happy said as he felt a little embarrass and Carla was annoyed.

"Not that. It smells like something is burning." Wendy said.

"It's this way!" Natsu said as he ran off in the direction of the smell with the others following. They didn't have to go that far as they came across a village by a mountain against a river where the smell was coming from. "What is this?" What they saw was an awful sight. The village was destroyed with homes and other buildings burned to the ground.

"How awful." Wendy said as they had a look around.

"There's not a single villager in sight." Carla said.

"Do you think this happened a while ago? They all could have just left." Happy said.

"No. This was recent." Wendy said.

"Then what could have happened? You don't think they were all abducted, do you?" Happy said, but no one answered for that might be what happened. "Who could have done this?" Wendy looked around and she just found the answer.

"Natsu, look!" Wendy said as they saw a couple of Tranquil Mind's puppets came out from hiding.

"You monsters!" Natsu said with deep hatred. "I'm going to take you guys and burn you into a pile of ashes!" Natsu charged right at one and gave a strong hit to a set of stairs. Natsu went after it while Wendy was dealing with the other one.

"Sky Dragon Crushing Fang!" Wendy gave the puppet a strong strike and pushed it down, but the puppets got back up.

"Natsu, watch out!" Happy said as two more of those puppets came from the stairs.

"They're going to need some help." Carla said as she stepped into fight and transformed into her human form. "White Moon!" Carla cartwheeled and slammed her foot down on one's head and smashed it. Two of the puppets tried slicing at Natsu, but he grabbed their arms and unleashed powerful flames that burned the two to a crisp.

"Sky Dragon Wave Wind!" Wendy created a tornado that shot the last one into the air.

"I've got it." Natsu said as he got under the puppet as it began to fall and he smashed his fist through it. "There might be more of these things around the village."

"He might be right. Wendy, you and I will check the other side of the river." Carla said.

"Right." Wendy agreed.

"Happy, let's look up these stairs." Natsu said.

"Aye!" Happy said as the four of them split up. Natsu and Happy made it to the top of the stairs and saw a temple on the other side of a bridge. Natsu looked ahead and saw five puppets.

"There you are!" Natsu said as he charged directly at them as he crossed the bridge. "You creeps are going to regret you came here!" Wendy and Carla looked on the other side of the river and found more of those puppets.

"Let's do this, Carla!" Wendy said.

"I'm right with you." Carla said. Two of them slashed at the girls, but they both rolled out of the way. Wendy stood in front of a barn and two were coming out.

"Sky Dragon Roar!" Wendy breathed out the roar attack and pushed the two back. Carla kicked one down and dodged the other one as she kicked it in the chest. She looked further ahead and saw two more.

"Wendy, watch out!" Carla said as the other two attacked and the six of them. Back with Natsu, He grabbed one puppet and tossed it into another. One tried to slash at him, but Natsu jumped back, but another puppet kicked him down.

"You think you're so tough?" Natsu said. The puppet tried stabbing him, but he moved to the sides and kicked it back.

"Natsu, a little help!" Happy said as he was trying to run from one.

"I've got you!" Natsu said as he tackled the puppet. He grabbed it and tossed it to the others. "I've had it with you puppets! Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Flame Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" Natsu spun his arms around unleashed a series of fire and explosions that blasted through the puppets and destroyed them. Meanwhile, Wendy and Carla were fighting the other puppets.

"These things are more of nuisance than Happy is." Carla said as she kicked one back.

"Sky Dragon Wing Attack!" Wendy unleashed the whirlwind attack and pushed some of the back. "Carla, try to get them all together."

"Got it!" Carla said as she kicked a couple of them and got the six of them together. Wendy used her magic and jumped high into the air.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Shattering Light: Sky Drill!" Wendy unleashed a bright light that spiraled like a drill. The attack struck down on all the puppets and shattered them to pieces. Carla looked around to see if there were anymore.

"It looks like that was the last of them here." Carla said.

"Wendy! Carla!" Both of them looked up and saw Natsu and Happy fly down to them.

"I think we got rid of all of them." Happy said as Carla changed back to her cat form and Natsu stood over the broken pieces of the puppets.

"I can't believe they would just attack a random and innocent village. How could they do this?" Wendy said.

"We better hurry and get back to Magnolia." Natsu said.

"Natsu's right. We need to let everyone know what has happened here." Caral said. Everyone was in agreement. Happy and Carla unleashed their wings and carried them back to Magnolia fast.

…

Magnolia

As soon as Natsu and the others made it back to Magnolia, they headed straight for the guild and to speak with Makarov. When they burst in his office, Erza and Mirajane were in there.

"Gramps, it's a disaster!" Natsu said. "A small village has been attacked by Tranquil Mind."

"There wasn't a single villager left. You don't think the guild…." Wendy couldn't bring herself to say it.

"No. We already know about that." Mirajane said.

"All the villagers are safe." Erza said.

"Those despicable scoundrels." Makarov said.

"What is going on? Why would Tranquil Mind just attack a random village?" Carla said.

"A message." Mirajane said.

"Tranquil Mind is threatening to attack and destroy everything if we don't hand over the orb." Makarov said.

"Other towns and villages have already been attacked. Guilds are doing their best to help people, but there's been a mass production of puppets and they seem to be growing stronger." Erza said.

"With these puppets, Tranquil Mind is becoming a serious threat." Makarov said.

"So what are we going to do? We can't just let them keep attacking whoever they want." Natsu said.

"We COULD meet their demands and jump them." Makarov said, but he was already having regrets. "No. The outcome far outweighs the benefit."

"Yeah. That does sound like a long shot." Mirajane said.

"Don't say that. You're making it sound like we can't win." Natsu said, but hearing him say that gave Makarov an idea.

"That's it. I think I have an idea that can work." Makarov said as he wheeled around his desk. "Erza, I need your help. If this works, we just might outwit them and gain the upper hand. The rest of you wait for her out the guild. You're all going in."

"Right." All of them said. Natsu and the others stepped out while Makarov discuss their plan with Erza. When it was all done, Erza met up with them out the guildhall and they were talking about their plan.

"Listen up. I'll go over the plan." Erza said. "Sabertooth is going to deliver the orb at the meeting point while we handle the trade. Natsu, you'll be the one to hand the orb over."

"We're actually using the orb? I thought it was a bad idea." Natsu said.

"Just trust me. Mira and I will stay close." Erza said. "When they approach, I want you to use your fire to cut off their escape routes. That's when Mira and I will jump in."

"What about me?" Happy asked.

"You just hang back, Happy. It's probably for the best." Mirajane said and Happy was seeing that. "Anyway, if we fail to stop them from escaping, Wendy, we're going to need you to go after them."

"Me? Are you sure?" Wendy questioned.

"Don't doubt yourself. We can't afford it." Carla said.

"Right. Sorry." Wendy said.

"Natsu, make sure they don't catch on." Erza said.

"Got it. I'm ready to take it to these guys for once." Natsu said. A risky trade this is. Who's really going to benefit from it?

Next Time: Watery Flames


	10. Watery Flames

With a demand threating to destroy everything and attacking innocent people, Tranquil Mind asks for Fairy Tail to hand over the last spirit orb. Natsu stands in a small open area in the woods with the orb as he was waiting for Tranquil Mind to show up. Meanwhile, Mira and Erza stayed out of sight so they can spring their trap.

"Looks like they're here." Natsu said as he saw the third member of Tranquil Mind reveal himself. "You! So you're part of Tranquil Mind."

"Yeah."

"Hold on. Your voice….you're the same person who set an entire village on fire looking for the orb." Natsu said.

"I'm Gurin of the Three Masters. Word of advice….don't do anything stupid."

"Whatever. Just take the dumb thing already." Natsu said.

"I don't trust you. I've got my eye on you." Gurin said.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu said as he tried to keep his cover. "I could burn all of you guys down any day of the week if I wanted."

"I'm sure we'll put that to the test soon enough, but we're here on business." Gurin said as he stepped closer to the orb with Mira and Erza getting ready to attack. "I'll take this." He reached for the orb, but Natsu used his flames and surrounded him.

"We've got you now!" Natsu said, but Gurin didn't seem the least bit worried. He slammed his hands together and those puppets appeared with them forming the barrier before Erza and Mirajane could step in. "What? Erza, what are you doing?" Natsu dispersed the flames and saw both of them were trapped.

"You're not the only one who can pull a fast one." Gurin said. He grabbed the orb and tossed it into the air. That was when Mona appeared out of thin air and caught it.

"I got it!" Mona said.

"No!" Natsu said as he ignited his flames around his feet and shot into the air. "Give that back!" He reached for Mona, but Gurin surprised him by jumping to his level and Natsu saw he had flames around his feet as well. "He uses fire?!" Gurin hammered Natsu down and had him hit the ground. Gurin landed down with Mona flying off.

"So long." Mona said as she escaped with the orb.

"Come back." Natsu said as he tried to go after her, but Gurin pounded him back.

"Our business here is done. Now I'll be your opponent." Gurin said. Gurin held out his arm and shot out a blast of fire, but Natsu devoured it in no time.

"Sorry, but fire isn't going to work on me." Natsu said.

"Right. You're the Fire Dragon Slayer and you consume fire." Gurin said. "If that's the case, I think you need to cool down." He surprised Natsu by shooting out a blast of water and had him hit the barrier.

"No way! He can use fire and water?" Natsu said. Gurin was ready to finish Natsu right there, but he saw the barrier went down. That was when Erza and Mira, in her Satan Soul form, stepped in and stood at Natsu's side.

"Sorry. It took some time to break the barrier." Erza said.

"Titania Erza and Mirajane the She-Devil." Gurin acknowledge. "This fight might be more interesting than I thought."

"Erza, they were able to take the spirit orb." Natsu said.

"We'll have to deal with him first." Mirajane said.

"This doesn't seem fair. Three powerful wizards against just me?" Gurin said. "I think one of you should be in reserve. Geyser Trap!" He slammed his hand on the ground. Water erupted right under Natsu and trapped him inside.

"You think a little water can stop me!" Natsu said as he tried to pound his way out, but his hand couldn't even get through the water.

"I be conserving my breath and strength if I were you." Gurin said. "There's no way you'll be able to break out of that water. You'll drown in about five minutes."

"We'll have you defeated before time runs out." Erza said as she requipped into her Sea Empress Armor.

"I'm afraid that armor of yours isn't enough." Gurin said as he shot out blasts of fire. Erza maneuvered around the flames and attacked with her sword, but Gurin jumped out of the way.

"I got him!" Mirajane said as she flew right at him. Mira swung her leg at him, but Gurin met the attack with his own kick.

"That's what I like to see." Gurin said as he jumped back. "Come at me with all you've got. I love a challenge." He shot out water at Mira and fire at Erza. Both of them tried to block the attacks.

'Oh man. I'm not just going to sit here while all this fighting is going on. It looks too good to pass up.' Natsu said as he was unleashing all his fire. Gurin looked ahead and noticed it.

"It's pointless. Fire could never beat water." Gurin said, but Natsu surprised him as he unleashed fire that was powerful enough to turn the water into steam. "No way! There's no way he could have broken free with just water!"

"Never underestimate a member of Fairy Tail!" Erza said as she requipped into her Flame Empress Armor and had the fire disperse. Mira unfolded her wings and was able to fly out of the water.

"I should have known this wouldn't be easy." Gurin said and was met with a punch to the face by Natsu.

"Love to keep pounding you around, but we got to get that orb back." Natsu said. Mirajane flew up and held out her hand.

"Darkness Stream." Mira shot out dark hands towards Gurin, but he used the flames and burned them all away. Gurin used his flames and jumped to her level.

"Flame Skull!" Gurin formed a skull from fire and slammed Mirajane with it and had her hit the ground. Gurin came down and placed his hands on the ground. "Water Rupture!" Water shot out from around and hit all three of them. "Have you had enough?"

"I underestimated him. To think he was a match for all of us." Erza said as all of them got back up.

"I'm far from done." Gurin said.

"So are we." Erza said as she flew right at him and tried slashing at him with her fire sword, but he moved out of the way. Gurin saw Mirajane fly up to him and gave him a strong kick in the back.

"You're turn, Natsu." Mira said.

"I've got him. Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Natsu unleashed his fire and it lashed against him.

"I'll finish this!" Erza said as she went in for the attack.

"I don't think so!" Gurin as he pulled himself together and shot out a blast of water at her. Gurin thought he had her when it hit, but he saw electricity travel through the water and electrocuted him. "How did that happen?"

"This is how." Erza said as she still wore her Flame Empress Armor, but she held her spear of lightning and her sea empress sword.

"No way! The defense of your armor with the offense of two different weapons." Gurin said as he found that impressive.

"Great idea, Erza." Mirajane said. "Your armor will protect you from fire and you can use your weapons to counter his water and fire attacks."

"Yeah. We've got this guy." Natsu said.

"You really think so?" Gurin said as he had something sneaky up to his sleeve. "Think again!" He drew a cross with his fingers and a magic circle appeared that looked similar to a certain one.

"That magic circle…is that Abyss Break?" Erza said. "I thought he could only use fire and water."

"Not quite the Abyss break, but close. Abyss Silence!" Gurin said. The magic circle shined and there was a ton of magic power coming from it.

"Look out!" Mirajane said as she pushed Natsu and Erza out of the way, but she took the attack. A bright light shined from the magic circle and Mirajane got hit with a heavy attack as she was blown out of the area.

"Mira!" Erza called out.

"What the heck just happened?" Natsu said.

"Abyss Silence. It's sort of like half of the Abyss Break." Gurin said. "It can only be accomplished by those who possess magic that are opposites like fire and water."

"That does it. You're going to pay for hurting Mira like that." Natsu said. "Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu charged right at him and rammed his head against him, but Gurin held his ground.

'The downside to using the Abyss Silence is that it takes up a lot of my magic power.' Gurin thought. 'That doesn't matter. I can still take these guys.' He tossed Natsu over him.

"You let your guard down!" Gurin looked behind him and saw Erza was right in the position to attack.

'No! I'm not going to make it!' Gurin thought. Erza struck with both her weapons and dealt the final blow. Gurin dropped to his knees and tried to hang on to his strength.

"It's over." Erza said as she requipped to her normal attire.

"It is, but I've done what I needed to do." Gurin said. "I never had any intention of winning this fight."

"Really?" Natsu said.

"Yes. I just needed to hold you down while Mona escaped with the orb." Gurin said.

"So you used yourself as bait and let your comrades escape." Erza said.

"Yes. Everything I've done has been for the revival of the guild." Gurin said.

"Revival of the guild?" Natsu wondered.

"That's right. The Magic Council as well as all of Fiore will bow to our magic." Gurin said. "If they refuse, we swore to unleash the Master Puppet. When that happens, the scattered members of the guild will return."

"Do you really think that will ever come to fruition?" Erza said.

"I don't know, but there was no other path for me. Ishida, the rest is up to you." Gurin said as he took his last breath and his body collapsed.

"Erza…" Nastu said as he wasn't really sure what to think of the sacrifice he made. Erza could see that.

"He was just doing everything he could for his guild. I can respect that." Erza said and Natsu actually felt sorry for him. He was the first member of a dark guild that seemed so devoted and caring Natsu's seen in a long time. Of course, he realized they had a serious problem.

"The spirit orb! Mira too! Where is she?" Natsu asked. Erza looked in the direction Mira was blown into.

"I think Mira is safe. She probably went after Wendy." Erza said.

"Erza, do you think they can get the spirit orb back?" Natsu said.

"Um…we should get back." Erza said.

…

The Guildhall

Erza and Natsu headed right back to the guild and they told Makarov everything that has happened.

"So they took off with the orb." Makarov said.

"Yeah, but Wendy and Mirajane are pursuing them right now." Erza said.

"Hopefully they'll find their hideout." Makarov said. "If they don't, so be it."

"How can you guys be so calm? They have the last spirit orb." Natsu said.

"We're back." They looked towards the entrance and saw Mirajane, Carla, and Wendy, but they seemed pretty bummed out.

"I'm sorry." Wendy said.

"We failed, Master." Mirajane said.

"Say no more. I can tell by the looks on your faces." Makarov said.

"I'm sorry. We tried, but they escape." Wendy said.

"It's alright. If anyone should be sorry, it's me. Erza, I think it's alright to tell them now." Makarov said.

"Tell us what?" Natsu asked.

"We didn't tell you because we needed it to look convincing." Erza said. "The spirit orb they just took was a fake."

"Fake?!" All of them shouted.

"But where's the real one?" Natsu said.

"Still with Sabertooth." Erza said. "The orb we handed over was a fake one they developed based on the information they've gathered."

"And you don't think you could have told us that BEFORE the mission?!" Carla said.

"I'm sorry, but we needed to be sure the orb would be passed." Makarov said.

"But…if they find out the orb is a fake, they'll come after us again." Wendy said.

"By that time, Sabertooth might have found a way to destroy the orb." Erza said. "As long as we can buy some time, we can still prevail."

"I guess, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Natsu said.

"Oh, don't be like that. I'll treat you to some cake." Erza said.

"Really?! Wait, I've heard that before." Natsu said as he knew Erza would just hog all of it.

"Worth a shot." Erza said. One member might have been defeated, but there are still two more and an entire army of puppets. Hopefully, they can destroy the orb in time.

Next Time: Secure the Citadel


	11. Secure the Citadel

Another day has passed by, but things are about to look bright. Lucy reached the entrance of Magnolia when she ran into Happy and Natsu.

"Lucy! Where are you off to?" Natsu asked.

"You got a job?" Happy asked.

"Yeah. I'm on a way to a place known as Citadel of the Ancients." Lucy said. "A historical place where Sabertooth is at. They found a way to destroy the spirit orb."

"Are you serious?" Happy said.

"Awesome! We'll come too!" Natsu said.

"Oh no. You need to go talk to Master about this." Lucy said. "He said he wanted to speak to you about this before you head over there."

"What? Come on. Let's just go together right now." Natsu said.

"Sorry, but Makarov has to talk to you about this." Lucy said. "Anyway, I'm in a hurry. Hopefully I'll see you there." With that, she just ran off on her own.

"We better go see, Gramps." Natsu said as he ran back to the guild and Happy went after him.

…

The Guild

Makarov was hoping for the best. He heard the guild doors burst open and saw Happy and Natsu coming right in and right at him.

"Gramps, Lucy just told us." Natsu said. "Has Sabertooth really found a way to destroy the spirit orb?"

"Yes." Makarov said. "Sabertooth came through for us and they figured out how. In order to do so, a powerful spell is required. Until the spell is ready, we must help them protect the orb at all costs."

"Let me do it! Please!" Natsu begged.

"Natsu might have lost it before, but what if we promise Natsu won't even touch the orb since it was his fault we lost it." Happy said.

"Would you forget about that?!" Natsu shouted.

"I was going to ask you to do it anyway. The rest of your team has already went on ahead to the citadel." Makarov said. "Natsu, you must protect that citadel at all costs. The resources there will be necessary to destroy the orb and try NOT to demolish the place this time."

"You got it. Let's get there fast, Happy." Natsu said.

"Aye!" Happy said as the two of them raced out so the orb will be destroyed and foil Tranquil Mind's plans.

…

Citadel of the Ancients

Natsu and Happy rushed right over to the citadel. The citadel was in the center of a town that had a Japanese theme to it. It became dark out since it took them hours to get there. Erza, Gray, Wendy, and Carla already arrived at the citadel and Minerva was there herself with all of the guarding the orb.

"We're here!" Natsu called out as he and Happy arrived.

"Natsu! Happy! We're so glad that you made it!" Wendy said.

"It's about time. What kept you?" Gray said.

"We got here as fast as we could. So the time has finally come for the orb to be destroyed?" Natsu said.

"Yes." Erza said.

"The time we've waited for is here." Minerva said.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's smash it to bits already." Natsu said.

"Settle, Natsu." Erza said. "In order for us to destroy it, we need to neutralize its power so it doesn't fly off like last time."

"It makes sense. After all, not even Natsu's power could even leave a crack in it." Carla said.

"So how do we do that?" Happy said.

"Just be patient. The spell is nearly ready." Minerva said.

"Ngghhh! I don't know if I can wait." Natsu said and remembered that someone was missing. "By the way, where's Lucy?"

"Lucy? I thought she was going to arrive with you guys." Wendy said.

"She left before us. Where could she be?" Happy asked.

"Wait. Here she comes." Gray said as they all saw Lucy running in.

"Sorry I'm late." Lucy said.

"What took you so long?" Natsu asked.

"Sorry. I actually got lost for a little bit on the way here." Lucy said.

"It's actually a straight path from here to Magnolia." Minerva said.

"Hey, the important thing is that she made it." Wendy said. Lucy took a few steps closer to look at the orb.

"Is this the spirit orb? Wow! It's beautiful!" Lucy said. Minerva had her eyes on her for she felt something was wrong. However, there was no time for question as an explosion went off.

"What was that?" Wendy asked.

"I'll give you one guess on who would have caused that." Gray said.

"Tranquil Mind!" Erza said.

"So they came after all. What should we do?" Natsu asked.

"I'll stay behind and guard the orb. How about you assist me?" Minerva asked as she looked at Lucy. "Erza, you and the others head downstairs and meet the enemy below to take them out."

"Got it. Let's move!" Erza said as the rest of them went to do just that. No matter what happens, they need to protect the orb. All of them raced outside and head down the road until they came across a squad of four puppets.

"There you are you, you rotten puppets!" Natsu said.

"Are they just going to try out number us?" Gray said.

"Not to worry. I can handle this myself." Natsu said. He didn't get the chance as blasts of light and shadow blast the puppets with Rogue and Sting appearing.

"Hey, we came to help." Sting said.

"Sting! Rogue!" Erza said.

"Incoming!" Wendy said as two squads of those puppets appeared.

"Natsu, how about you stay with us to take these puppets down." Sting said.

"The rest of you better scout the area. There might be more of them." Rogue said.

"Got it." Erza said.

"You really want to leave them here?" Gray said.

"They can handle this. Our main priority is to secure the citadel." Erza said. With faith in their comrades, all of them went to look for the other puppets.

"At this rate, they'll infiltrate the castle soon." Rogue said.

"We better get wrap this up as fast as we can." Natsu said.

"That means we have to take all of them down. Let's tear them apart!" Sting said. "White Drive!"

"Shadow Drive!" Sting and Rogue both glowed in light and shadow. Sting went and gave one a powerful kick that destroyed the puppet. Rogue charged right in. The puppets swung his blade at him, but he became a shadow and phased through. Rogue gave one powerful punch and destroyed it.

"Hey! Save some for me!" Natsu said as he went and attack. Two of them slashed at him, but Natsu jumped over them. He gave one a powerful kick to push it back. "Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu threw the fireball dangerously close at the puppet and destroyed it.

"These things are starting to drop like dominos." Sting said as he avoided the blades. He grabbed the puppet and spun it around and he tossed it with the arm coming off. The tossed puppet slammed into another one. "White Dragon Roar!" Sting shot out the laser from his mouth and it burrowed through both of them.

"Over here!" Rogue said to get the attention of the last two. One jumped up and the other spun around to attack, but Rogue sunk into the shadows and they missed him. Rogue caused shadows to erupt through the ground and tore them to pieces.

"That takes care of the ones here." Natsu said.

"Something isn't right. That seemed almost too easy. You think they put up more of a fight if they know we're on the verge of destroying the orb." Sting said.

"Maybe we're just that awesome." Natsu boasted.

"Let's go check in with the others." Rogue said as they went to meet up with the others. Erza and the others were fighting just as hard against a few extra puppets.

"Ice-Make: Floor!" Gray froze the ground and caused a couple to slip. "It's over! Ice-Make: Battle Axe!" Gray slashed down with ice on them and shattered the puppets.

"Sky Dragon Roar!" Wendy unleashed her whirlwind blast and destroyed some of the puppets. Erza joined in as well and smashed a few with her Black Wing Armor. Carla and Happy took to the skies to try to find more of those puppets.

"This is weird. Shouldn't there be more of those puppets. There doesn't seem to be that many." Happy said.

"You're right." Carla said. "I also don't see any human controlling them or anything. What could be going on exactly?"

"You think we have them on the run already?" Gray asked.

"I sure hope so." Wendy said.

"Hey!" Sting called out as he and with Natsu and Rogue managed to catch up with them. "You guys ran into any trouble."

"No. There isn't that many of them and that's what's bothering me." Erza said.

"Where could they be?" Rogue said.

"Come on out! You guys haven't had enough already, have you?!" Natsu called out.

"What could be going on? It's way too early for them to be giving up." Sting questioned, the same as what everyone is thinking. They soon got their answer as they heard an explosion and saw the citadel was on fire.

"Oh no! The tower is under attack!" Wendy said.

"The attack out here was just a diversion to keep us away." Rogue said.

"Lucy and Minerva are up there!" Happy said as he was worried about them.

"Couldn't Minerva just use her magic and get the both of them out of there?" Gray said.

"Yeah, but I'm not picking up either of their scents or their magic power." Sting said.

"Something must have happened inside the tower. They might be trapped." Rogue said.

"Natsu, you and I are going in." Sting said. "The rest of you stay out here in case more of those puppets show up or they manage to get out."

"We better hurry." Natsu said as he and Sting right inside. Natsu and Sting traveled from one floor up to another, but there was smoke and fire everywhere as everything was burning.

"I can't believe the flames have reached so high." Sting said.

"I can just devour the flames and we be fine." Natsu said.

"Hang on, Natsu." Sting said. "Let's wait until we get to Lady Minerva and Lucy. They could be in trouble and the enemy might still be inside. They can just easily set the place ablaze again."

"I guess you're right. We just better hurry before it's too late." Natsu said. Natsu and Sting raced through the burning building as they made their way up from one floor to the next until they made it to the floor below them and were just at the bottom of the stairs. "Lucy! Minerva! Just hang in there!"

"Wait. Do you hear voices?" Sting said.

"Voices? What are you talking about? This is no time to be hearing things." Natsu said.

"Just shut up for a minute and listen." Sting said. Natsu used his enhanced ears and he was hearing the voices Sting was talking about.

"I'm tired of your façade. Reveal your true identity already."

"What are you talking about? We can't fight now. It would be exactly what they want."

"It's Minerva and Lucy." Natsu said.

"Something isn't right. Be careful." Sting said and they headed up the stairs, but what could be going on above them?

Next Time: Gone with the Wind


	12. Gone with the Wind

The time has finally come for the spirit orb to be destroyed. Sabertooth and Fairy Tail were suppose to protect the orb until then, but Tranquil Mind attacked. Sting and Natsu raced back inside to help out Lucy and Minerva. However, just before they went up to the top floor where the girls and the spirit orb were in, they heard Lucy and Minerva. It sounded like they were facing against each other and that's just what was happening. In the burning building, Minerva faced off against Lucy. Lucy jumped up and tried to attack, but Minerva blocked it easily and pushed her back.

"How did you know I wasn't really your friend?" Lucy asked.

"It's not enough to change your form." Minerva said. "Every person has distinct mannerisms. Though, that's probably wasted on people who like to play with puppets."

"Perhaps….of course there are SOME that would never know the difference." Lucy said.

"Natsu Dragneel!" Minerva said.

"Lucy! Minerva! Are you two alright?" Natsu and Sting came running in and the imposter decided to take advantage of this.

"Natsu, help me!" Lucy pleaded. "She's an imposter. She tried to kill me."

"Seriously?" Natsu said.

"That can't be right." Sting said.

"It's true. I did attack her, but I'm not the imposter." Minerva said.

"Look lady, no one attacks Lucy." Natsu said as he was getting angry.

"Natsu, hold on. Minerva is saying Lucy is the imposter." Sting said.

"Don't be fooled, Natsu." Lucy said. This was difficult. Neither of them could tell which one was lying and which one was really a fake.

"I can't tell them apart." Natsu said. "They both have the same scent they've always had. There's no way either of them can be an imposter."

"That's just what the enemy wants us to think." Sting said. "They know we have enhanced senses. They might be using something that has Lucy's or Minerva's scent so we can't tell one of them is the fake."

"I'll prove it." Minerva said. "If you're really Lucy Heartfillia, how come you haven't summoned any of your spirits yet?" All eyes were on Lucy and she was looking a little nervous. "The real Lucy would have summoned her spirits to aid her or perform the Star Dress. However, you don't even have any of her keys on you. A real celestial wizard doesn't go anywhere without them." Both of the boys looked and noticed Minerva was right. Lucy didn't have her keys on her. "My guess is that the REAL Lucy refused to give her keys up. Not that it would matter because you still wouldn't be able to summon any of them if you're using Transformation Magic."

"All of that are some good points." Sting said. Natsu knew Lucy better than anyone and he was starting to see it.

"Imposter!" Natsu said as he grabbed her by the arm and tossed her back, but Lucy was able to flip from the floor and stood back up with the boys standing next to Minerva.

"So much for this trick. I did warn you not to be fooled." Lucy said.

"How dare you mess with my head!" Natsu said.

"How dare YOU mess with my plans." Lucy said.

"A fake like you doesn't have any room to complain." Sting said.

"Are you so sure about that?" Lucy asked.

"What do you mean?" Minerva asked.

"This body MIGHT be real. I MIGHT just be controlling it from afar thanks to Tranquil Mind's magic." Lucy said.

"No way!" Natsu said as he couldn't bring himself to actually fight Lucy of all people.

"So do you still think you can stop me knowing you might hurt your friend?" Lucy said as Natsu was actually losing the will to fight.

"What are we suppose to do now?" Natsu said.

"Even if what she's saying is true, we have no choice, but to try and stop her." Sting said.

"Prepare yourselves….here she comes." Minerva said as the fake Lucy went on the attack. She swung her legs at them, but all three of them moved out of the way. Lucy jumped towards Sting and gave him a strong kick in the gut that made him slide back.

"Whoa! That's some kick she's got." Sting said.

"Yeah. Lucy always had a strong kick to her." Natsu said.

"Stay focus." Minerva said and got the two of them back in the fight.

"It doesn't matter. I'll be taking that orb." Lucy said as she tried to get to it.

"Lucy!" Natsu said as he grabbed a hold of her. "Lucy, if you're really being controlled, look into my eyes. It's me." Lucy's face soften up and Natsu thought the control over her was breaking. He was shown wrong when she smirked and banged her head against him and he moved back. "So much for that idea." Lucy was about to attack again, but Minerva caused a small spot of space combust and pushed her down.

"Careful, Milady. We don't want to hurt her if she is under control." Sting said.

"I'm aware of that. Sting, get her to stop moving and everything will be settled." Minerva said.

"How am I suppose to…." Sting was about question, but he figured out what Minerva was saying. "Oh! I get it now."

"You got nothing." Lucy said as she got back up and went to attack them again.

"Not this time!" Sting said as he slammed his hand against her and a magic circle appeared on her.

"What?" Lucy said as she tried to move her body, but she was almost as stiff as a board. "What did you just do to me?"

"I just branded you with my stigma." Sting said. "When that happens, you won't be able to move until I say so. Maybe we can get some answers from you now."

"Come on, Lucy. You've got to fight whatever control they have over you." Natsu said. "You've got to hear my voice. It's me, your precious Natsy." Sting tried to hold back laughing from hearing that. "Shut up."

"No matter what you say or do, it's pointless. Just hand over the orb." Lucy said.

"Are you even aware of the situation?" Natsu said. Lucy, fake or not, was trapped and that became a problem. A wooden beam with fire on the end came down and hit Lucy on the back. "Lucy!" He was about to save her from the fire, but Minerva held out her arm.

"Wait. Take a look." Minerva said as they saw Lucy was beginning to fade with magic power being release.

"What's happening?" Natsu questioned. Lucy faded away and turned into a lock of hair. "Hold on. That's a lock of Lucy's hair."

"I see. They used Personification Magic." Minerva said. "By using her hair, they had us believe she was the real thing. Though, it was sloppy. She didn't act like Lucy and they obviously disregarded her spirits."

"They must have been afraid her spirits would tell us what's really going on." Sting said. "Of course, they needed someone to make sure the puppet was working right. Come out! I picked up on your scent when I was kicked in that direction. I know you're there."

"Curses." The enemy decided to stop hiding as Mona showed herself.

"You again!" Natsu said.

"So much for your little trick." Sting said.

"That does it! Deceiving me with that trick did it! I'm not holding back anymore!" Natsu declared.

"Oh, is that right?" Mona said as she prepared to fight. "Very well. I accept your challenge. We should have done this in the beginning. Like I said last time, I'm going to slice you up eight different ways!" She shot out a blast of two tornados that blasted Natsu and shoved him into the fire.

"You think that will stop Natsu? You're going down!" Sting said as he charged in to attack, but Mona jumped over him and kicked him in the back. Natsu pulled himself up and ate some of the fire.

"Sorry, sweetheart. All you did was throw me into a snack." Natsu said.

"Perhaps, but you don't have that little girl this time to help you." Mona said as she shot out blasts of wind at him, but Natsu moved out of the way. "The orb is mine!" She charged directly towards the spirit orb, but she was surprised as she and Minerva switched places.

"I'm afraid you'll have to do much better than that." Minerva said. She had one of her orbs appear in front of Mona, but she flew out of the way before it exploded.

"Where are you going?" Sting said. "White Dragon Roar!" Sting unleashed the roar. When Mona noticed it, she tried to block it as the roar blasted her through the roof.

"I'm not done! I'm taking that orb!" Mona said as she dived back in, but Natsu met her at her level.

"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu gave her a strong kick and kicked her to the floor. "You really think we need Wendy to handle you? You're up against some pretty tough guys all on your own."

"That doesn't matter." Mona said as she tried to get up.

"You should have just surrendered when you had the chance." Minerva said as she used her magic and had Mona trapped inside a sphere.

"What is this? What are you doing?" Mona questioned.

"This is what happens when you stand against Sabertooth." Minerva said. She caused a series of explosion go off inside the orb. Minerva had the sphere vanish and Mona shot into the air. She hit a beam and landed on the ground in defeat with a series of injuries.

"Curses. Why can't I win?" Mona said as she didn't have the strength to get back up.

"Just give it up. There's no way you're going to make it out of here." Sting said.

"Where's the real Lucy? Answer me!" Natsu said.

"That girl? By now I suspect she's no longer in this world." Mona said.

"What did you say?!" Natsu said as his fury was growing.

"Answer us…or you'll meet your end here." Minerva said.

"Why are you so concerned about that one girl?" Mona asked.

"Lucy is an important part of Fairy Tail. She's important to me! Now tell me where she is!" Natsu demanded.

"Alright. That girl…is most likely…." Mona said. All of them stepped closer to hear her. "Now!" Mona used the last of her magic to create a powerful twister that carried the spirit orb away. All of them raced over to try and reach it, but they were too late.

"What an evil witch." Minerva said as they all turned back around.

"What did you just do?" Sting said.

"I just sent the spirit orb in the same direction Ishida is. It's in his hands now." Mona said.

"Call him back right now!" Sting said.

"Sorry, but this is my choice." Mona said as she reached behind her and pulled out a switch. Minerva saw what she was doing. "I'm taking you all along with me!" She pressed the switch and caused a series of explosion around herself and the tower to go off.

…

Outside

Rogue and the others heard the series of explosions and they saw the entire building starting to collapse.

"Sting/Natsu!" Lector and Happy called out.

"What happened in there?" Gray said as they were all concerned for their friends. They thought none of them made it out until they saw Minerva using her magic to teleport all three of them out of there.

"That was close." Sting said.

"Are you all alright?" Erza asked.

"What happened and where's Lucy?" Wendy said.

"The Lucy there was a fake. Tranquil Mind captured the real one on her way here." Sting said and that was a shock to all of them.

"We also lost the spirit orb." Minerva said. "The enemy wizard was willing to sacrifice everything for her guild and she succeeded." Natsu got right up and took off.

"Natsu, where are you going?" Rogue asked.

"Where do you think? I've got to save Lucy." Natsu said.

"Calm down. You guys should probably inform your guild about what has happened." Sting said.

"But something could happen to her." Natsu said.

"I'm with Natsu. We've got to rescue her if she's been captured." Gray said.

"So go back to your guild. Having their help would be better than going in all by yourselves." Sting said.

"How can you be so calm?!" Natsu said.

"I've watched your guild and you always put your comrades' lives first." Minerva said. "Just stop and think what might be the best way to save her right now." Erza saw what she was talking about and she knew what they needed to do.

"We'll head back to Magnolia. Master Makarov would want to know of one of us being captured." Erza said.

"In the meantime, we'll try to track them down." Rogue said.

"Once we found something, we'll give you guys a call." Sting said. With there being nothing else to do and their mission and goal gone with the win, they all have choice, but to go back.

….

The Guildhall

Natsu and the rest of his team made it back to Magnolia. They informed Makarov of what has happened and it wasn't great for him at all.

"No!" Makarov said as he slammed his hands on his wheelchair. "The spirit orb has been stolen AND Tranquil Mind has Lucy!"

"Alright, we told him. Let's get going and save Lucy now!" Natsu said.

"No, Natsu." Makarov said.

"What?!" Natsu said.

"Natsu, think about this. The enemy knows about your enhance sense of smell." Makarov said. "They would have hidden Lucy's scent so you can't track it. Until we're able to track her down, there isn't much we can do."

"But…" "Natsu!" Makarov interrupted.

"You just need to have faith in Lucy. She is a member of our guild and can take care of herself." Makarov said. "Perhaps Levy can trace her down. I'm not asking you to abandon Lucy. I'm just as upset as you are. I'm just asking you to have faith and wait for her."

"Blast it all!" Natsu said. All of them have suffered a major lost and matters might only get worse.

Next Time: Destruction and Tranquil


	13. Destruction and Tranquil

Fairy Tail was in a dire situation. Not only has the last spirit orb been stolen by Tranquil Mind, but they've captured Lucy as well. Natsu already went ahead and tried to track her by scent, but Tranquil Mind has hidden it. He wanted nothing more than to go find her and hold her in his arms again.

"Don't worry, Natsu. I know we'll find her." Happy reassured. Natsu and Happy were on their way back to Magnolia when they saw Gajeel and Juvia running out.

"Natsu! You better go and hurry to see Master Makarov." Juvia said.

"We think we finally found Tranquil Mind and Lucy." Gajeel said. "Loke was able to make it to the guild and he told us where they are hiding."

"Really?!" Natsu said.

"What are we standing here for?" Happy said as the two of them hurried back to the guildhall.

"We better get going, Juvia. This is going to be an all-out battle."

"That's true. The life of our comrade is at stake." Juvia said.

"Let's go! We don't have much time to lose." Gajeel said as the two of them went ahead. Natsu and Happy hurried back to the guild and saw Gray and Makarov were the only ones in the building.

"Gray, I'm surprised you're here and Juvia left." Happy said.

"I told her to go on ahead while I wait for you two to get back." Gray said.

"Gramps! Did you really hear from Lucy?" Natsu asked.

"Yes. Loke was able to make it back here and he told us where she's hiding out. It also appears to be the hideout for Tranquil Mind." Makarov said. "They're near Bulot Swamp."

"Can we go?" Happy said.

"Absolutely. It's going to take everyone in our guild for they made a grave mistake in taking one of our own." Makarov said. "Go with Gray and stop the revival of the Master Puppet."

"Right! Let's do this!" Natsu said as he was already heading out.

"Wait, Natsu!" Makarov called out and had him stopped. "I want Lucy safe as much as you do, but the Master Puppet's revival must not be allowed."

"Gramps, what are you saying?" Natsu said as he wasn't liking this.

"All I'm saying is that you need to figure out how to save Lucy and stop the revival from happening." Makarov said. "If both are happening at once, you must be ready to make a tough decision."

"I still don't get it." Natsu said.

"He's considering the value Lucy has as a hostage." Gray said. "It's highly likely she's still alive and if she's still able to use her spirits, she could be able to get other information and take care of herself.

"Yes. That's why I believe she can take care of herself." Makarov said.

"But once Tranquil Mind finds out what has happened, it might all go downhill for her there." Gray said.

"So what do we do?" Natsu said.

"We sneak into the hideout and rescue Lucy before it's too late. We can't afford to be held back by any fighting." Gray said.

"It will be difficult to accomplish this task and save Lucy, but I'm confident that you can do it." Makarov said.

"We will. No more waiting around. Let's go!" Natsu said. Not wanting to wait any more, all three of them raced out of Magnolia and to save Lucy before it's too late.

…

Bulat Swamp

Bulat swamp, the hideout of Tranquil Mind with a tower in the swamp. Battles are raging as the tranquility of the swamp and the guild turned into one of destruction with Fairy Tail wizards fighting against puppets. Laxus was surrounded by them until he used his lightning to strike them down. More of them showed up just when Natsu and the others did.

"Laxus, you doing okay?" Natsu said.

"No need to worry." Laxus said.

"Where's everyone else?" Happy asked.

"Everyone is taking on separate battles. Some managed to get inside." Laxus said. "You guys should get going too."

"But you can't take on these puppets by yourself." Gray said.

"These things are just hunks of junk." Laxus said as he zapped all of them with lightning.

"I guess we really don't have much to worry about. They're all yours." Gray said as the rest of them ran for the tower and Laxus left to deal with the puppets. Natsu and Gray made it to an edge and saw the tower right in front of them.

"There it is. Lucy is somewhere inside." Happy said.

"Just that tower? That can't be right. There has to be more to it." Natsu said.

"Actually, there is." Gray said. "Loke said that this place expands for miles further below. The tower is just an entrance."

"Look out!" Happy said as a couple of the puppets were coming at them from behind.

"You're not getting in our way!" Gray said. "Ice-Make: Ice Wall!" Gray unleashed the ice under the puppets and froze them inside. "Let's go!" Gray formed a slid of ice and all three of them down it and ended up by the entrance.

"Hurry! We've got to reach Lucy before it's too late." Natsu said as all of them went inside. They looked and saw the only place to go was up.

"At least we're getting in some exercise." Gray said as he was about to go up the stairs, but stopped when he heard something coming their way. "You've got to be kidding." He complained as more puppets came from upstairs.

"Get out of our way!" Natsu said as he thrusted his arm forward and unleashed a blast of fire and pushed them back.

"Come on. There's more than one way to head up." Gray said as they stepped back outside. Gray used his magic and formed a pillar of ice that shot them straight into the air and on the top floor. "Last stop. Everyone out."

"Gladly." Natsu said as he and the others jumped off and entered the top floor.

"Hey, over here!" Happy said as he flew over to another entrance in a wooden pillar. "First, we went up. Now, we have to go down and it looks like way down."

"Careful. We don't know how far down this goes." Gray said.

"Who cares?" Natsu said as he just jumped right in and went down.

"Idiot! Don't just go jumping off like that!" Gray called out.

"We might as well join him." Happy said as he and gray went down to join him. Natsu jumped ways down until he finally reached bottom to stone hall.

"Whoa!" Natsu said as he looked around until Gray landed on his head. "Watch where you're falling!"

"Maybe next time you should just move out of the way!" Gray argued.

"Guys, now is not really the time for us to be fighting." Happy said as he tried to push the two of away from each other. "We've got to stay focus and find Lucy." Hearing that got the two of them to stay focused.

"Natsu, can you pick up on Lucy's scent now?" Gray said. Natsu took a sniff around.

"No." Natsu said, but he did pick up on something. "Hang on. There's a bunch of people just up ahead." All of them went to check it out. Just up ahead they found Wendy and Carla helping people that looked like prisoners and it sounded like they were over water.

"Wendy! Carla!" Happy called out and got their attention.

"Who are they?" Gray asked.

"They're all prisoners from Tranquil Mind's attacks." Carla said.

"They all seem to be in pretty bad shape. I've been doing what I can to help them." Wendy said.

"T-They absorbed our magic with some strange machine." One prisoner said. "It didn't matter how weak or broken we were. They just kept doing it."

"Are there any more of you?" Gray asked.

"I think there are several of us still around." The prisoner said.

"Okay. We better get these guys free before things get worse." Gray said.

"W-Wait." Another one of the prisoners said. "There was also a celestial wizard here."

"What?!" Natsu said as he ran over to that prisoner. "Was the celestial wizard a girl with blonde hair and had an emblem on her hand like ours."

"Yes. She was very kind hearted. She did everything she could to try and help us."

"Don't worry about us. Please, go and save that girl….or she'll…." The prisoner couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Where is she now?!" Natsu asked.

"A member of Tranquil Mind took her down that way." The prisoner said as he pointed to a staircase going down. "When all the ruckus we heard started, they assumed she had something to do with it. He thought she sent out a message somehow."

"Lucy!" Natsu said as he was nervous what was happening to her.

"This isn't good." Gray said. "I hate to say it, but we'll have to split up. Wendy, you and I will find the other prisoners. Carla, we're going to need your help to get them out."

"What about me and Happy?" Natsu said.

"You go find Lucy. At least now we know where she is." Gray said. "When Wendy and I are done here, we'll catch up with you."

"Lucy, just hang on a little longer. I'm coming for you!" Natsu said as he raced down the stairs. When he got there, he saw the entire floor was covered in water and he couldn't see the bottom. "A little swimming isn't going to stop me!" Natsu dived right in, but he ended up smashing his head against a stone path that was hidden under the water.

"That looked painful." Happy said. "Besides, I can just fly us over." Natsu got up and shook it off.

"I'm coming Lucy!" Natsu said as he ran straight for it and ignored Happy. He ran through the water and nothing was stopping him until he reached Lucy. Natsu looked ahead and saw more of the puppets getting in his way. "Move it!" Natsu unleashed a powerful roar and knocked the puppets out of the way with some of them falling to deeper parts of the water. Natsu moved through the water until he came across a set of stairs at the end and was starting to pick up on Lucy's scent. "She's close!"

"Really?!" Happy said. Natsu ran up the stairs and down the only path with Happy following. He soon ended up in a storage like room and saw Erza hiding behind some crates.

"I see." Erza whispered.

"Erza!" Natsu called out and she turned to face him.

"Shh!" Erza said and made sure the two of them stayed hidden.

"What are you doing?" Natsu asked.

"Look." Erza said. The two of them looked ahead and saw a few more puppets run out from the next hall and didn't even notice them. "I've been watching the enemy's movement. It would seem that beyond that point is the heart of this base."

"I've also finally picked up on Lucy's scent. She's just through there too." Natsu said. "Let's get in there and thrash the guy that took her."

"Yes, but we should move with caution." Erza said. "From this point on…there may be no turning back." They've reached the point of no return and it could be all or nothing on the other end.

Next Time: The Revival is Near


	14. The Revival is Near

Natsu and Happy were able to get into Tranquil Mind's guild and it's stretched out far under the surface. The two of them were able to meet up with Erza and all of them went in to rescue Lucy in the center of the area. All of them ran inside to a large room with a bunch of machines surrounding the higher level.

"Look!" Happy said. They looked on the other side and saw Ishida with Lucy strapped on one of the machines and her magic was being drained from her body.

"Lucy!" Natsu called out and got Ishida's attention.

"You again! Rotten timing since I was just about to harvest the last of this girl's magic." Ishida said.

"Give her back! Give her back right now!" Natsu called out.

"We're coming, Lucy!" Happy said as the two of them charged right in, but Erza jumped and landed down on both of them to stop him.

"Calm down. Don't just go rushing in without thinking it through." Erza said. "There's nowhere for him to run."

"Fools. What reason do I have to run?" Ishida said. "I only need to inject just one more source of magic into the final orb. Then, the revival of the Master Puppets shall be at hand. Finally, the world shall see my brilliant creations! Such as they should have all those years ago."

"Your creations?" Natsu questioned.

"That's right! I remember Sabertooth telling us that one person was responsible for creating all these puppets." Happy said. "That person was the reason for all of this?"

"Are you saying that everything that has happened until now with you guys is all your fault?" Natsu said.

"I suppose I'm guilty in that department." Ishida said. That was a surprising fact to all of them. "Those who resented me shall suffer for holding back my creative genius."

"But aren't you just using the Master Puppet as a threat in negotiations with all of Fiore and the Magic Council?" Erza said.

"Did you get that from Gurin? All he knows is what I told him. That fool couldn't handle it if I told him the truth." Ishida said. "My true purpose is…my purpose…purpose...? What is my purpose?" He was beginning to act strange as he held his head and acted dizzy.

"What are you talking about?!" Natsu said.

"Hold on. He's behaving strangely." Erza said.

"I….I don't need a purpose. I don't need to tell you anything." Ishida said. He placed his hands together and his lizard puppet jumped down and landed behind the group.

"Not that thing again!" Happy said as he was acting scared.

"I'll eliminate anyone that stands in my way." Ishida said.

"We're in trouble." Happy said. "Don't you remember, Natsu? That thing was able fight off against you and Laxus fighting together."

"It could hold its own against both of you?!" Erza said as she was surprised that something could stand up to both of them.

"That isn't going to scare me off! Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu charged right in with his body covered in flames, but the lizard slammed his own head against Natsu and was able to overpower him.

"Idiot! Have you already forgotten? No matter what magic attack you use, it won't work." Ishida said. "My puppet is made out of a material that nullifies magic."

"If magic attacks won't work, there's always simple combat." Erza said as she jumped up and requipped into her Purgatory Armor. She swung down her weapon, but the lizard was able to catch it with its mouth and tossed her back. "This puppet surely is different from the others."

"I'm just getting started!" Ishida said as he had his puppet used its flamethrower and he assumed Erza was roasting, but he saw she requipped into her Flame Empress Armor. "Impressive you requipped so quickly. I can see why you're an S-class wizard."

"Defeating such opponent won't be easy with so many functions." Erza said.

"Maybe, but I know how to stop that thing." Natsu said as he charged right for Ishida. "Take out the controller, you take out the puppet."

"You're an even bigger fool than I thought." Ishida said as he had his puppet bend into a wheel and it was bouncing and rolling towards Natsu.

"Natsu, watch out!" Happy said, but it was too late as the lizard was able to hit Natsu and then it smacked him with the tail.

"Did you really think I would leave myself defenseless?" Ishida said. "You'll have to get through my puppet to get to me."

"I don't care! You won't stop me from saving Lucy!" Natsu shouted as he went to attack the lizard with a powerful flaming fist, but it did nothing. The lizard spun around and smacked Natsu hard again.

"It's pointless. There is no magic attack that can work against this puppet." Ishida said.

'If magic is truly cancelled out when fighting this puppet, how is he able to control it?' Erza thought. "I suppose there's only one way to find out." She requipped into her Giant Armor. She tossed the halberd with great strength.

"Nice try!" Ishida said as the puppet jumped over the weapon and it slammed into the wall. When the puppet jumped into the air, she noticed something peculiar about the underside of the puppet.

"What is that?" Erza questioned.

"Impulse Bombardment!" The lizard had its compartments opened and started rotating with the bombs falling out.

"Not those things again!" Natsu said as he tried to avoid them. Erza brought out her Adamantine Armor. She was able to block the blast waves from the detonating bombs with Natsu trying his best to avoid them. The lizard landed down and was ready to keep fighting.

"This is bad." Happy said as he looked towards Lucy and saw she wasn't doing well. "Lucy might almost be out of magic power. We've got to get through that puppet, but how when magic doesn't work?" Erza regrouped with Natsu while trying to keep an eye on the puppet

"Natsu, I have an idea." Erza said.

"So what is it?" Natsu asked.

"I'm going to try to get that lizard to jump in the air." Erza said. "When I do that, I want you to attack from below with all your might. Make sure you attack around the stomach or the chest."

"But why?" Natsu asked. "Magic attacks don't work on that thing and it's going to take more than just brute force to destroy that thing."

"Just trust me. Hold nothing back and strike with full power fire attack." Erza said. Natsu wasn't quite sure what she was planning, but he knew to trust Erza. "Let's end this!" She requipped again and into her Heaven's Wheel Armor.

"No matter what armor you try, you can't defeat my puppet." Ishida said.

"We'll see about that." Erza said as she used her armor's power and formed a circle of swords surrounding the lizard. "Since my swords are being controlled with some telekinesis, they should still pierce through the metal."

"Go ahead and try." Ishida said.

"Go, my swords!" Erza commanded. All the swords shot straight for the puppet on all sides, but Ishida had the puppet into the air. "Natsu, now!"

"Got it!" Natsu said as he hurried under the lizard before it landed down. "Here goes! I'm all fired up!" Natsu unleashed as much fire as he could and jumped straight up. He slammed his fist against the area where Erza said and smashed through and smashed the puppets to pieces.

"What?!" Ishida said with complete shock and dismay as he didn't think his puppet would be destroyed.

"That worked?" Happy questioned.

"I don't get it. How come that attack work when my Fiery Hammer didn't even work?" Natsu said.

"I've noticed something strange when it jumped." Erza said as she turned back into her normal armor. "I noticed that the bottom half of that puppet was a different color than the rest of the metal. That's when I figure it out. He needs magic to control this puppet, but it rejects magic. That lower part of the puppet must have been made out of regular metal. He must have focused his magic on that part so he could control it and that means it was also a weak spot."

"Amazing you were able to see that, Erza." Happy said.

"I could have solved it." Natsu said as he wanted to make it sound like he's just as good as Erza.

"Leave it. Let's just save Lucy." Erza said.

"Stop right there!" Ishida said. "Interfere any longer and the girl dies here."

"You jerk! What are you going to do with her?" Natsu asked.

"As I told you earlier, I'm going to use her magic and that last bit will have everything for the revival." Ishida said.

"Any way you look at it, it's bad news for Lucy." Erza said. Natsu had an idea that could save her, but it was a risky one.

"Erza….do you think this Master Puppet will be revived right away?" Natsu asked.

"Um…I don't think so." Erza said. "Unlocking a seal this powerful would require some magic power and since he's the only one around, he might be left vulnerable just for a little bit."

"Okay. I think it will be okay." Natsu said.

"What will be? What are you thinking?" Happy asked.

"Hey! Geezer!" Natsu called out. "Let Lucy go and in her place….you can have all MY magic!"

"What?" Ishida said.

"Natsu, what are you doing?!" Erza asked.

"It will be fine. I have much more magic power than Lucy does. It will take twice as long for all of mine to be drained." Natsu said. "That should give us some time to stop him. Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, I am E.N.D. He's searching for magic power. My etherious power may cause some interference."

"Natsu, you don't know that since Lucy did rewrite your book." Erza said. "This is a big risk your taking."

"I'm with her on this." Happy said.

"It will be fine. When you get the chance, take that old man down. You just need to trust me, Erza." Natsu said, but neither of them were too sure.

"Come here, Fairy Tail rat. I find your proposal intriguing." Ishida said. "When we last fought, I could tell you have plenty of magi power. A lot more than this young lady."

"Erza, talk some sense in him. He'll listen to you." Happy said, but Erza saw this as their only chance.

"Alright. Just don't die on m, Natsu." Erza said.

"Ha! I can't die. You still owe me a match and I've got a date with Lucy." Natsu said.

….

Lucy

Lucy was beginning to regain consciousness. When she woke up, she saw Happy and Erza were watching over her.

"Hey! You're awake!" Happy said as she sat up.

"Erza? Happy? How did you fine me?" Lucy asked.

"Loke was able to get to the guild and told us your location." Erza said.

"Good." Lucy said.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!"

"What was that?" Lucy said as she looked around. She looked up to the machines and saw Natsu having his magic drained. "Natsu!"

"Oh! This boy's magic is more powerful than I thought!" Ishida said. "The revival is near. The revival shall happen in no time."

"Erza, what's going on?" Lucy asked.

"I'll explain later." Erza said. "Lucy, as soon as he moves away from that machine, I want you and Happy to get Natsu out of there. Most of his energy might be lost. Make sure to take care of him."

"What about you?" Lucy asked.

"Me? I'll be going after HIM." Erza said as she had her eyes on Ishida.

"Yes! The revival is here!" Ishida said. He moved away from Natsu and headed to the next room.

"Where are you going?" Erza said as she went after him.

"Natsu!" Lucy called out.

"Let's get him out of there!" Happy said as the two of them went to help him. That left Erza to deal with what's ahead by herself.

Next Time: Erza and Lucy vs. Natsu?!


	15. Erza and Lucy vs Natsu?

The five spirit orbs have been gathered together with all the necessary magic. Ishida stood in the center of a platform with four pillars around it. He focused his magic power with the five orbs floating above him.

"At last! The time has finally come for the revival!" Ishida said. "The Master Puppet shall be revive and destroy everything."

"Not happening!" Ishida wondered who that was, but he had no time to react as Erza came at him and struck him down with her sword. "It's over. We'll be destroying those spirit orbs as well as the Master Puppet."

"Fools." Ishida said, but he was still down and it wasn't his voice. "If this body is broken, there is always another."

"What?" Erza questioned as she wondered what that voice was.

"Natsu, stop!"

"What's wrong with you?!" Erza looked towards the entrance and saw Natsu running in with Happy and Lucy not far behind him. Happy and Lucy spotted Erza and ran over to her.

"What's going on?" Erza asked.

"We don't know." Happy said.

"When we tried to get Natsu out of that contraption, he acted strange and just took off." Lucy said. All of them looked towards Natsu and saw he was trying to break the seal himself.

"What are you doing? Stop it, Natsu!" Erza said.

"My revival is here. Do not interfere." Natsu said, but it wasn't his voice.

"What was that voice?" Lucy asked.

"The same voice from earlier." Erza said. Happy and Lucy looked at her to see if she knew something. "Quick! We have to stop Natsu!" All of them went to try and stop Natsu, but he jumped over to the other side.

"I say again, do not interfere." Natsu said.

"Natsu, what's wrong with you?" Happy asked.

"Natsu isn't even in control of himself." Erza said. "He's been taken over by the will of the spirit orb. He's being controlled by the Master Puppet inside the orb."

"Exactly." Natsu said. "When I was created, I required so much magic power that I actually developed a will of my own. It was certainly a surprise to my creator. Fearing that he wouldn't keep control, he developed the spirit orbs."

"So that was the real reason you were sealed away." Erza said. "However, when he was ready to release you, the Magic council stopped him."

"Yes. After years, I grew tired of being sealed away and longed for my revival." Natsu said.

"So what about that Ishida guy?" Lucy asked.

"He probably began searching for the orbs to revive his guild, but when he found just one of those orbs, he must have been taken over as well." Erza said.

"He was a useful tool, but he is useless now." Natsu said. "From now on, this body will be my new vessel."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Happy said.

"Give Natsu back!" Lucy demanded as none of them were willing to give Natsu up that easily to a mere puppet.

"I'm afraid that's impossible….and if you continue to interfere…." Natsu said as he stood and got ready to take a fight.

"Are we really going to fight Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"I'm afraid we don't have a choice." Erza said as she stood for the fight to come. Natsu unleashed a roar of fire, but Erza requipped into her Flame Empress Armor and block the attack. "Is that all you've got? Natsu can produce hotter flames than that."

"This vessel is still new, but I'll bring out its power." Natsu said as he went to attack. He had flames around his fists and tried to attack both of them. Lucy brought out her Fleuve D'etoiles and had it coil around him.

"Natsu, you've got to fight its control over you." Lucy said, but Natsu used his strength and snapped the whip off him. He formed a fireball and tossed it at her, but Lucy moved out of the way. Erza flew in and tried to slash at him, but Natsu jumped over the attack.

"Erza, what are we going to do?" Happy said.

"We can't actually fight him." Lucy said.

"We can take him. The Master Puppet is an emotionless weapon and Natsu's power increases with rage." Erza said. "Without that, he has no power over us."

"Don't be too sure." Natsu said as he used a couple of flaming fists to attack, but Erza blocked each one with her sword. "Lucy, try and use one of your spirits to hold him down."

"Got it. Open! Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" Lucy opened the gate and Virgo showed herself.

"Greetings, Princess. Is it punishment time?" Virgo said.

"Not now! I need you to hold Natsu down. Can you use your chains or something?" Lucy asked.

"Of course." Virgo said. Virgo extended the chains on her wrists and used them to coil around Natsu.

"Do you think this can stop me?" Natsu said as he turned his body with all his might and brought Virgo to him. "You wanted to be punished?" Natsu ignited his foot and kicked Virgo with it and freed himself.

"Thank you for that. Until next time, Princess." Virgo said and vanished.

"Virgo!" Lucy cried out in concern of her being hurt.

"You use your own puppets when your enemy has used their own? Humans have always been such hypocrites." Natsu said.

"That does it!" Lucy said as no one insults her bonds with her spirits. Erza flew up and came down with her sword, but Natsu jumped out of the way and kicked her in the back. Natsu charged right at Lucy. "Natsu, stop!"

"Don't do it!" Happy said as he tried to fly in and stop him, but Natsu smacked him out of the way. "I thought we were friends!" Natsu tackled Lucy to the ground and pinned her down with his foot.

"Uh oh!" Lucy said as she tried to reach for her keys, but Natsu grabbed them first and tossed them away. "No!"

"Natsu!" Erza called out as she flew over and tried to save Lucy, but Natsu grabbed her by the neck and stopped her. Natsu tossed her hard and threw her against one of the pillars. He looked down at Lucy as she tried to get free.

"You shall be the first human to fall." Natsu said.

"Natsu, please, don't do this." Lucy pleaded as Natsu ignited his fist and was ready to finish her. "Natsu, don't let that thing control you. You're stronger than it. Natsu, I know you can hear my voice."

"You are only wasting your time." Natsu said.

"I'm not talking to you, you sorry excuse for a toy. I'm talking to Natsu." Lucy said. "Natsu, you never let anyone control you. Sure, you might like to pick fights with Gray or Erza, but that's only because you've acknowledge their strength. You would never willingly try to hurt anyone in Fairy Tail. You aren't the smartest guy in the world, but you're one of the strongest guys I know with the biggest heart. That's one of the reasons I like you so much. Don't let that puppet take it all away."

"Lovely speech, but it was all for not." Natsu said as he was about to strike her, but they were all surprised when Natsu grabbed his own arm and stopped himself. "No!" He said and it was Natsu's actual voice. "I won't hurt Lucy." Natsu backed away from Lucy with Erza helping her up and changing back to her normal armor.

"What's happening?" Happy asked.

"Natsu is fighting for control." Erza said as they watched Natsu struggling against his own body. "Natsu! Can you hear my voice?!"

"Erza…" Natsu said.

"Come on, Natsu. You can do it." Lucy said.

"Fight that dumb orb's control!" Happy encouraged.

"Lucy….Happy…" Natsu said. His friends' voices were helping fight against the orb and the Master Puppet. "Get out! Get out of my body!" He screamed as magic power shot out of him with him free from the orb. When Natsu unleashed the power, he passed out.

"Natsu!" Lucy called out as they rushed to his aid.

….

Natsu

Natsu was beginning to wake up. When he did, he noticed he was on the floor with his head on Lucy's lap.

"You're awake!" Lucy said as she helped him stand up. "We're in luck. It doesn't look like you've suffered any serious injuries."

"Are you okay?" Happy asked.

"I think so." Natsu said as he felt his strength coming back to him. "What about that Tranquil Mind old man?"

"I took him down just like you wanted." Erza said.

"When I was in that machine….I felt the power of the orbs and it took over." Natsu said. "When I heard your voices, I was able to fight back. Thanks you guys."

"It was our pleasure. All that's left to do is retrieve the orbs and return to the surface." Erza said.

"We need to make sure all five of them are destroyed." Lucy said, but they didn't get the chance as they saw all five orbs flashing. "Erza! Look!" They looked and saw Ishida's body was moving.

"It can't be!" Erza said. "When Natsu broke free, the orbs must have transferred some magic power into his body."

"Yes. The time is here. My revival has come!" The body dropped as the ground rose into a large pillar and the five orbs came together. From the light of them coming together, the Master Puppet formed. Six arms, four faces, a giant sword, with it carrying multiple blades in its circular body. (Same Master Puppet from the game.)

"It's….huge!" Happy said as all of them could not believe their eyes.

"So this is the Master Puppet!" Lucy said.

"Heed my words, humans. With the magic power I've stolen from you, my power is greater than before it was sealed." The Master Puppet said.

'Did Natsu's etherious plan backfire?' Erza thought.

"With this power, I shall destroy everything!" The Master Puppet said.

"Don't kid yourself, ugly. We're not letting you get away. We're going to destroy you once and for all!" Natsu declared.

"Even if we all attack, there's little chance we'll actually destroy it." Erza said.

"We won't know unless we try." Natsu said.

"We should at least be able to stall it until reinforcements show up." Lucy said. Erza thought it over. With Ishida gone, the Master Puppet is really all that's left.

"OK! Let's do this!" Erza said with the Master Puppet changing its face to the brown one. Natsu and Erza were the first to attack.

"It's hopeless!" The Master Puppet said as he swung his sword, but both of them jumped over. Erza requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor.

"Scatter Petals!" Erza shot out a series of her swords.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu unleashed his breath attack. Both of them attacked on both sides, but they saw neither of their attacks did anything. "Nothing?"

"Not even a single scratch" Erza said.

"What is that thing made out of?" Happy wondered.

"I don't know, but we have to take it down." Lucy said as she was about to join in the fight, but she felt her power down to almost nothing. "What? How can I be out of power?" She said as she dropped to one knee.

"Lucy!" Natsu called out.

"This isn't good. She must have had more of her magic drained out of her than I thought." Erza said. She saw the puppet was aiming at her as he held up his meddle left arm. "Lucy, get out of there!" Lucy tried to run, but she had almost no strength. A bolt of lightning flashed down and the impact sent her flying and off the edge.

"Lucy!" Both of them shouted.

"I've got her!" Happy said as he flew over and managed to catch her and placed her back on the ground with Natsu running to her.

"Is she alright?!" Natsu asked. Erza saw the puppet move again and it was about to use the same attack.

"Natsu, look out!" Natsu grabbed Lucy and was able to avoid the lightning from striking down on. Erza and Happy ran over to Erza's side.

"You're going to pay for this!" Natsu shouted.

"Lucy's in bad shape." Erza said as she looked over her condition.

"I am invincible! Abandon this pitiful resistance!" The Master Puppet said.

"This isn't good." Natsu said. "Our attacks did nothing, but bounce off. How are we suppose to beat that thing?" All of them are in serious trouble. How can they defeat something that can destroy all of Fiore?

Next Time: Team Natsu vs. Master Puppet


	16. Team Natsu vs Master Puppet

Fairy Tail has revived to stop the revival of the Master Puppet. The Three Masters might have been defeated, but the Master Puppet itself is a force to be reckoned with. Lucy already is in bad shape and Erza and Natsu are struggling against it.

"Are you guys alright?!" All of them looked over on the edge and saw Gray, Wendy, and Carla arrived.

"Gray! Wendy! Am I glad to see you guys." Natsu said as all of them rushed over to their aid.

"My word! Lucy, you look like you're in a lot of pain." Carla said.

"Let me help you." Wendy said as she tried to heal her.

"Lucy is in no shape to fight." Erza said. "Wendy, you need to get her out of here and get her injuries treated. We'll stay behind and destroy the Master Puppet."

"Carla, we should probably get them out of here fast." Happy said.

"I agree." Happy said.

"Hang on. Natsu, Erza, aren't the two of you exhausted?" Gray asked.

"Not at all." Natsu said. "Besides, I want to destroy that puppet with my own hands."

"I'm sure if the three of us work together, we might be able to destroy it once and for all." Erza said.

"We should probably get moving." Wendy said.

"Wait." Lucy said as she tried to move.

"Lucy, you shouldn't move." Natsu said. "I know you want to help, but you don't have any strength to fight with. Just leave this to us."

"I will….if you three promise….promise that you three come back to me alive." Lucy said. She couldn't bear the thought if she lost three of her closest friends.

"Will do." Erza said.

"Not looking on dying here." Gray said. Natsu bent down and placed his forehead against Lucy's.

"Don't worry. I promise that all of us are going to make it out alive." Natsu said. With hearing those words, Happy and Carla took the girls and flew out of the cavern and left Fairy Tail's strongest team to fight the Master Puppet. "Right! This time, let's destroy that thing."

"Don't be so hasty." Gray said. "Either of you got any idea on how we might be able to beat that thing?"

"If only we could attack its source of magic." Erza said. "Though, I bet it has some sort of mechanism protecting it."

"Watch out!" Natsu said as he saw it was about to attack again. The Master Puppet used its Lightning Magic again, but Gray was able to form a shield of ice and blocked the attack.

"If we're going to destroy that thing, we can't hold anything back." Gray said and decided to go for broke as he released his black markings and tossed his shirt.

"Once again, abandon this useless resistance." The Master Puppet said.

"Hold on. I sense a little something." Gray said.

"What is it?" Natsu asked.

"I'm sensing a little bit of magic power leaking out." Gray said. "Actually, it's almost the same as yours Natsu."

'It looks like it got a little of my demon power in it. That must be why Gray can sense it.' Natsu thought. "Gray, can you tell where it's coming from?"

"I think it's coming from behind the head. Why?" Gray said, but Natsu was already acting as it moved around to the side of the Master Puppet.

"There!" Natsu said as he found his target. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu dived right into that area and hit some sort of force. It caused an explosion and pushed Natsu back, but it caused something else to happen.

"Look! The spirit orbs!" Gray said as they saw four of the orbs on the four pillars.

"Wait. There should be five. Where's the last one?" Erza asked.

"I see it! It's right inside." Natsu said as he pointed right at the last orb in the Master Puppet.

"Of course. The spirit orbs are the source of it's power." Erza said. "That's the plan. First, we attack the orbs. After it's weakened, we attack the body."

"Sounds simple enough." Gray said.

"The time has come to put an end to Tranquil Mind's terror." Erza said.

"Time to put an end to this nuisance." Gray said.

"I'm all fired up now!" Natsu said. The Master Puppet held out its middle right arm. Light gathered around and formed a giant ball of light, but it moved slowly. All of them ran out of the way before it detonated.

"Let's do this. Ice Demon Rage!" Gray shot out the blast of ice from his mouth, but the ice didn't even freeze it.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu slammed his hand against the head. That left Erza to go for one of the orbs as she requipped into her Morning Star Armor and jumped to the blue orb.

"Photon Slicer!" Erza shot out the blast of energy at the orb, but the orb didn't lose any power. "Nothing?" She saw the Master Puppet turn to face her and unleashed more lightning, but she jumped out of the way.

"It's going to take a lot more than that." The Master Puppet said as he slammed a hand down and caused linear explosions to go off, but Erza avoided them. Gray went up to try.

"Ice Demon Zero Destruction Fist!" Gray formed gauntlets of ice and slammed his fists against the red orb.

"I won't fall!" The Master Puppet said as he spun around and smacked Erza and Natsu. He used his Lightning Magic again and Gray got blasted. "Time to fall into darkness." He rotated his head to a bird one and activated a gravitational pull that was pulling all three of them in. "Pitch Black Cannon!" It fired off a blast of darkness that pushed Natsu back.

"Natsu!" Erza and Gray shouted.

"Drill Pillars!" The Master Puppet switch to his white face and caused rotating pillars to shoot out of the ground and they grinded against Gray and Erza when they were close enough.

"That hurt!" Gray said as his black markings faded.

"You have no chance of beating me. I am invincible!" The Master Puppet declared.

"So what?" Natsu said as he got back up. "There is no way we're going to give up the fight. We'll keep fighting until we can't fight any more! Fire Dragon Talon!" He jumped and kicked the yellow orb with full power.

"He's right. Keep going for the orbs!" Erza said as she changed into her Clear Heart Clothing and brought out Crimson Blossom. She jumped up and slammed it against the green orb and was not pulling away with magic shooting out.

"It's pointless." The Master Puppet said.

"You don't know that. You're nothing, but a puppet." Gray said as he shot out blasts of ice. "You can't understand us humans. You can't understand that when we set our hearts on something, we'll never quit."

"That's right!" Natsu said as he slammed blasts of fire against the Master Puppet.

"Come on. Fall!" Erza shouted and she was repelled from the orb and it lost power. "It worked!" She saw her theory was right and she was going for another one of the orbs. She jumped up and slammed her sword against the red one as well and it lost power. "That makes two."

"I won't let you get another." The Master Puppet said. "Thousand Blades of Doom!" He used magic to bring out all the blades he was carrying and had them circle around the area, but all of them were able to avoid each of the blades. Erza jumped up and was going for the third one. "I don't think so." The blades retracted and he was forming another one of the light balls in her path.

"Oh no!" Erza said as the ball form in front of her and detonated with her being blown back.

"Gray, go for one of the orbs!" Natsu said.

"Way ahead of you!" Gray said as he aimed for the yellow orb. "Ice Demon Zero Destruction Bow!" Gray fired the arrow of ice and it blasted the orb with its power being lost as well.

"No!" The Master Puppet shouted. "I will destroy you all for this."

"Don't bet on it." Natsu said as he was going for the last orb.

"I won't let you steal my power." The Master Puppet said as he was about to attack, but Erza and Gray slashed off the two middle arms so it couldn't attack with the same spells. Natsu jumped up to blue orb.

"This dumb thing has caused us a lot of trouble. Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Flame Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" Natsu used his best attack and blasted the orb with the power in it being lost as well.

"It's weakening. The arms came off easily." Erza said. "We're only going to have one shot at this. Gray, you and I will create an opening. Natsu, you strike at the last orb with every ounce of power you have."

"This can't be. I am invincible. I can't be defeated." The Master Puppet said.

"I say you're about to." Natsu said as all three of them went to attack him.

"Stay back!" The Master Puppet shouted as he spun around and struck all three of them. They've all suffered serious injuries, but that wasn't stopping them as they stood back up and kept fighting. "I cannot be defeated. No one can stop me."

"You can keep saying you're invincible, but it's all meaningless." Natsu said. "Real power comes from the person's heart. That's why Tranquil Mind never stood a chance. They relied on tools rather than their own strength and you're just another one because you have no heart. Erza! Gray!"

"Right!" Both of them said. They both got into the puppet's side and was pulling the head back so Natsu had a clear shot at the orb.

"This ends!" Natsu said as he charged right for the final orb. "Fire Dragon King Demolition Fist!" Natsu gave the orb a powerful blow to the orb. Gray and Erza were blown back from the attack with the flames and cracks forming on the Master Puppet. Natsu jumped back as it was being destroyed.

"I…am…invincible. I….am….immortal." The Master Puppet collapsed and was turned into firewood. With the Master Puppet's destruction, the entire area began to shake and come apart.

"I think that's our cue to get out." Gray said. All of them headed straight for the exit. Outside, everyone won all their battles and saw the tower collapse. They also saw their heroes walk out of there. Lucy was the most glad as they kept their promise.

…

One Week Later

A whole week has passed since Tranquil Mind was defeated and all the damage has been repaired. At the moment, Natsu and his team were in a mountainous area.

"So what are we doing here?" Gray asked.

"Well, we found something in the remains of Tranquil Mind's hideout." Erza said. "Natsu wants you all to see it."

"Take a look." Natsu said as he held out five small orbs that were the size of marbles.

"What are those spheres?" Wendy asked.

"They're so pretty!" Lucy said.

"I feel like I've seen them before." Happy said.

"Don't recognize them, do you?" Natsu said. "These are…." "…the spirit orbs." Erza interrupted.

"What?!" All of them said.

"No fair, Erza. That was MY line!" Natsu said.

"But they weren't this small before." Carla said.

"What happened to them?" Gray said.

"My guess is that now that the Master Puppet is destroyed, they hold no magic power anymore. They're just normal jewels." Erza said. "Natsu said he wanted the privilege of getting rid of them. What do you say, Natsu? Is this a good spot?"

"Sure is." Natsu said as he walked over to the edge. "You guys….get lost and never come back!" He tossed the five orbs out as far as he could with them never to be seen again. "That felt good."

"Did he really have to do that? They were pretty jewels." Lucy complained.

"Don't worry about it. I'll buy you a nice piece of jewelry or something." Natsu said as he held out his arm and Lucy took with her resting her head on it. "Time to get back to work."

"Yeah. Let's go!" Happy said. All of them agreed and headed out. Another enemy defeated by the hands of Fairy Tail and they continue to move forward. That's the life of Fairy Tail.

The End…


End file.
